The Impacts Of Hurricane Katrina

On August 29th, 2005 Hurricane Katrina caused catastrophic damage and flooding in Mississippi, Louisiana, New Orleans and areas in between. It destructed the lives and homes of thousands of people, with a total of 1,883 fatalities (Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts, 2015). Hurricane Katrina left many homeless and hospitals unprepared for the challenges posed to the healthcare system as a whole. Some of these challenges included gaining access to healthcare facilities, providing expedited care to those most in need, and preventing spread of disease that commonly occurs during natural disasters. Many facilities did not evacuate in time and many were left stranded in flooded waters as patients conditions worsened and access to essential medications and treatments became limited.

When storms come through Florida my mother and family stay and they board up windows, stock up on nonperishable items and water. Life has gotten more challenge since Hurricane Katrina because so many people were displaced and and have the relocated to the panhandle of Florida. The population has grown which makes it more difficult to get assistance. My mother and family have changed the way they think and they are grateful for the little things because most of the survivors of Katrina lost

The devastating and deeply rooted traumatic effects of Hurricane Katrina will live in the psyches of the people of New Orleans and beyond for generations to come. Katrina was the largest and third strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States barreling in as a Category 5 with up to 175 mile-per-hour winds and a 20-ft storm surge that would create a humanitarian emergency with the likes never before seen in the United States. This hurricane caused unimaginable death, destruction, and displacement, leaving a known death toll of 1,836 and an unknown number thought to be washed out to sea. The real truth is we will never know exactly how many people lost their lives during Hurricane Katrina.

“When communities are rebuilt, they must be even better and stronger than before the storm,” (“Bush”). This is what former president George W. Bush said during his speech in New Orleans concerning the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was a massive natural disaster that consisted of high powered winds and immense amounts of water. The hurricane was initially a category 3, but gradually rose to the classification of a category 5 storm, which is the largest storm there is (“Hurricane Irene”). In fact, there were accounts of winds recorded at about 127 miles per hour in the Gulf areas such as Grand Isle, Louisiana, and near the Mississippi River (“Hurricane Katrina Statistics”). All of these factors are made

Hurricane Katrina hit the southern coast of the United States on August 28, 2005. The center of Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans on the morning of August 29, 2005. The devastating effect of this hurricane resulted in more than 1,800 citizens losing their lives, as well as more than an estimated $81 billion dollars in damages occurred. By August 31, 2005, eighty-percent of the city became submerged under water because the storm surge breached the city's levees at multiple points. If the levees are damaged massive water will flood Louisiana from the Gulf Coast, the Mississippi River, and other surrounding bodies of water. Some areas of New Orleans were 15 feet under water. Winds of Hurricane Katrina reached an astounding category 3 as

On a normal August day, Hurricane Katrina inflicted massive damage on 3 of the poorest states in the United States. Mississippi, with a poverty rate of 22 percent; Louisiana, with a poverty rate of 20 percent; and Alabama, with a poverty rate of 22 percent (Rodriguez, H. & Aguirre, B, E.). Katrina was the cause of one of the biggest evacuations of any major American city in history. These cities also housed a major socio-economic gap with over 23 percent of the residents living in some form of poverty (Schneider, 2007). Over 1 million Americans were forced to leave their ruined homes, especially in areas like New Orleans where the majority of the affected citizens were forced to relocate elsewhere. As many as half of a million people have been relocated to other states of refuge, like Texas and many of which have high rates of poverty themselves like the 22 percent of Texans (Schneider, 2007).

The above quote was spoken by a Mr. Jim Willis and quoted by the Washington Post. It summarized perfectly how a natural disaster has the ability to unmask the disparities of society. On August 29th, 2005, a moment in American history was being created. This moment has come to be known as Hurricane Katrina. Her high wind speeds and three days of endless rain led to numerous deaths and astronomical amounts of damages for the residents of Louisiana and Mississippi. Although her terror only lasted for three taunting days, just like the residue she left behind, she also left residents with emotional, physical, and psychosocial scars.

The largest issue that arose from the disaster was communication, be it between FEMA and local/state government or the local government and the people. While reading these interviews, a general trend arises. No one believes that the happenings of Hurricane Katrina were majorly their fault. Some claimed that they were overwhelmed but many directly pinned the miscommunications on other segments of the problem. This constant blaming of others shows that the issues were never truly resolved after the disaster. Based on the indications of the post-effect, it is very unlikely that the different groups could have communicated well during a disaster of the proportion.

The Guardian opens the article with a sentence detailing the impact Katrina is having on America, immediately showing the severity of the storm. The article described the impact of the hurricane on multiple states and Mexico but also went into details about the impact in New Orleans specifically. Not only did the article give statistics such as, “The hurricane also battered large swaths of the Louisiana and Mississippi coastlines, leaving two oil rigs adrift in the Gulf of Mexico and causing damage estimated by insurers to be worth up to $26bn”, but it also gave individual accounts from New Orleans (Guardian). One story in the article described people, “climbing into attics to escape rising water” in New Orleans (Guardian). The Guardian did

Hurricane Katrina had a huge impact on the United States Wildlife and Fisheries in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas because of debris, oil, chemicals and other hazardous waste that was released into the water during the storm. The effects of Hurricane Katrina show us how major flooding can destroy ecosystems. The U.S. portion of the Gulf of Mexico leads the nation in landings of shrimp, oysters, and blue crab. The habitat that supports these fisheries and coastal economies also supports community resiliency and protects infrastructure for example, ports, energy production, fisheries which are extremely important to the nation. This habitat and its ability to support fisheries and protect vital infrastructure is threatened by

This reading detailed a study regarding to the effects Hurricane Katrina had in New Orleans while raising the questions about how race and class influence human, as well as institutional, responses to the disaster. It questions how ‘natural’ are natural disasters where it is our social construction on disasters that determines how devastating they are. ‘The primary objective of this paper is to examine the extent to which racial and class differences influenced human responses to Hurricane Katrina’ (page 296).

On August 8, 2005, Hurricane Katrina was one of the strongest storms during the past 100 years. The sustained winds were between 100 and 140 mph and a 3 category and stretched up to 400 miles. I was the most destructive laying to waste a 90,000 square mile of land. The storm was overwhelmed by flooding, over 1,500 people died and the Gulf Coast suffered over tens of thousands without the basic essentials for weeks.

Kathleen Blanco, said this after discovering the impact and destruction Hurricane Katrina left. Hurricanes are one of the most deadly natural disasters in the world. There is an average of six hurricanes per year, but the severity of the these storms varies. One of the most devastating storms to ever hit the United States was Hurricane Katrina. When evaluating the destruction caused by this hurricane, it is important to understand the atmosphere in which hurricanes occur, their warning signs, what took place during Hurricane Katrina itself, the aftermath, and how the storm has shaped the future.

Hurricane Katrina was the most horrific natural disasters in 2009. It was one of the most deadly disasters since 1928. In 1928 the hurricane that shocked everyone by having many fatalities was hurricane Okeechobee that hit Florida. Since hurricane Okeechobee Florida hadn’t experienced a hurricane like that one until hurricane hit in 2009. Hurricane Katrina was considered a category level five hurricane, which is the highest number of category levels for a hurricane. Only 3 category five level hurricanes have ever hit the United States. Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Katrina being two out of the three to ever hit the United States. For the hurricane Irma that took place in 2017 (this year) that most of us are familiar with, although it was a category five level, America was far more aware and prepared for hurricane Irma that for hurricane Katrina that accord in 2009. For hurricane Katrina sadly America wasn’t prepared, therefore they didn’t warn the people of Louisiana that their was a category five level hurricane a going to hit, sadly many those from Louisiana and those states new by where left in shock and left to find out for themselves how horrific and disasters this monster hurricane was going too be. A numerous amount of people were not able to evacuate due to lack of transportation and no funds, which caused more people to stay behind and get sick/die. The total number of deaths due to the devastating hurricane Katrina was 1,836 and which also includes 1577 deaths in

Hurricane Katrina was one of the greatest natural disasters of history. A devastating effect of this hurricane resulted in more than 1,800 citizens losing their lives,as well as more than an estimated $81 billion dollars in damages occurred. The economy suffered greatly after the hurricane.