Weather Disasters Earth is the only planet known to support life, but has a dark side that is demonstrated every year. Whether by earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, or hurricanes, the Earth is an extremely active planet, and humans living upon it must heed the potential for danger. One of the worst of these disasters to occur came in the form of Hurricane Katrina during an 8 days span in August of 2005. Hurricane Katrina impacted the coast of Louisiana and changed the area immensely, not only at that time, but the changes can still be seen today, nearly a decade later. From Tropical Depression to Hurricane Not every tropical depression becomes a hurricane, but when a tropical depression is discovered, it is watched with great intent due to the …show more content…
On the morning of August 29, 2005, the rain had already been falling for hours as Katrina churned closer to land (Hurricane Katrina, n.d.). Before making landfall, Hurricane Katrina was officially downgraded to a category 3 storm, with wind speeds in excess of 111 miles per hour, and the storm surge reaching the shore approached 30 feet, and quickly overwhelmed the unstable levees (Amadeo, …show more content…
Bernard Parish were under several feet of water, forcing those remaining to seek shelter on rooftops and in attics (Hurricane Katrina, n.d.). By the time the flooding was complete, over 80 percent of New Orleans was under water, with an estimated 300,000 homes destroyed or uninhabitable, nearly 120 million cubic yards of debris littered the entire area (Plyer, n.d.). Over 1,800 people lost their lives during the devastation, 40 percent of those were due to drowning, 25 percent due to trauma and injuries, and 11 percent due to heart failure, with nearly 70 percent of all the victims 60 years of age and older (Hurricane Katrina, n.d.). In addition, over 100 offshore oil and gas platforms were destroyed, over 400 oil and gas pipelines were damaged, and the resulting oil spill nearly reached the levels of the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 (Hurricane Katrina, n.d.). Beyond the devastation, Hurricane Katrina displaced more than one million residents living near the Gulf Coast, many of them returning within a few days, but over a month later over half a million residents remained displaced (Plyer, n.d.). The population of New Orleans decreased from nearly 485,000 in the year 2000, to only 230,000 in July, 2006, and in 2012 the population numbers were still only 76 percent of the total in the year 2000 (Plyer,
Numerous different aspects were altered due to the ruckus of Hurricane Katrina. The first major aspect was housing and location. Katrina nearly demolished 300,000 homes. The ascending sea level along the coast resulting from onshore winds is a storm surge. With a twenty-two foot storm surge in New Orleans and a twenty-seven foot storm surge in Mississippi, Hurricane Katrina averaged a shocking twelve foot storm surge. As a storm surge’s footage increases, the surge will continue to move inland farther and farther. Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge is documented as moving inland a total of twelve miles into the state of Mississippi (FAQS, 2013). Hurricane Katrina impacted a total of seven states. Five of these states were Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Kentucky and Ohio were two more states affected but in a different way. Because of the tremendous amount of water, Kentucky and Ohio were victims of the Mississippi River flooding. Some states experienced more extreme destruction than others. Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana experienced Hurricane Katrina’s wrath firsthand. These three southern states were affected the worst by the massive storm (FAQS, 2013). Mississippi’s forest industry experienced a great amount of destruction losing 1.3 million acres of valuable forest land. The main cause of destruction in New Orleans was blamed on the failure of the levee system to stand its ground
In the late summer of 2005, a terrible tragedy occurred that changed the lives of many in the south-east region of the United States. A Category 3, named storm, named Hurricane Katrina, hit the Gulf Coast on the 29th of August and led to the death of 1,836 and millions of dollars’ worth of damage (Waple 2005). The majority of the damage occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana. Waple writes in her article that winds “gusted over 100 mph in New Orleans, just west of the eye” (Waple 2005). Not only was the majority of the damage due to the direct catastrophes of the storm but also city’s levees could no longer hold thus breaking and releasing great masses of water. Approximately, 80% of the city was submerged at sea level. Despite the vast amount
Hurricane Katrina began as tropical Depression twelve, which formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005. On August 24, the storm strengthened and became known as Tropical Storm Katrina, the 11th named storm of the 2005 hurricane season. A few hours before making landfall in Florida on August 25, Tropical storm Katrina was upgraded to Hurricane Katrina (Category1, 74mph winds). An analysis by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) climate prediction center
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.
Packing 145-mile-an-hour winds as it made landfall, the category 3 storm left more than a million people in three states without power and submerged highways even hundreds of miles from its center. The hurricane’s storm surge — a 29-foot wall of water pushed ashore when the hurricane struck the Gulf Coast — was the highest ever measured in the United States. Levees failed in New Orleans, resulting in political and social upheavals that continued a half decade later. (Laforet, New York Times)
On the morning of August Twenty-ninth, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region. The storm brought the water to about twenty feet high, swallowing eighty percent of the New Orleans city immediately. The flood and torrential rainstorm wreaked havoc and forced millions of people evacuate from the city. According to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, Katrina caused approximately one hundred and eight billion dollars in damage. Hurricane Katrina was one of the most destructive disasters have ever occurred in the United States, but it also revealed a catastrophic government at all levels’ failure in responding to the contingency.
In the year 2005, New Orleans was famously hit a major natural disaster that took lives and destroyed the homes and civilians. This wrath of Mother Nature became to be known as Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 hurricane with gusts peaking at 174/mph according to the Safir- Simpson wind scale (SSHS). With this Hurricane having its path directly on a city only being on average 1-2 feet below sea level, it created conditions for serious havoc (NOAA, 2012). The aftermath left a serious physical imprint on the city, which has the potential to never be removed. This imprint left by Hurricane Katrina caused extensive damage to 134,000 housing units, destroying multiple bridges along the Gulf Coast, as well as various buildings across the city, which led to harmful chemicals leaking into the water system, such as petroleum and natural gas. Finally, Hurricane Katrina also caused the main power grid to be disoriented for a number of weeks. As a result, the damage costs from the storm added up to be about $108 billion (2005 USD), which according to Eric Blake was the costliest storm ever to hit the United States (Blake et al. 2011). Hurricane Katrina perpetuated all of these tribulations, as it drastically altered the lives of the many inhabitants of New Orleans and they continue to face the repercussions of the storm in their day-to-day lives.
As a category 4 storm, Katrina decimated anything in its path, with winds blowing up to 150 miles per hour and a serge of water reaching 15 feet. Nearly seventy-percent of New Orleans was under water for weeks, as it flooded the streets due to old and left thousands stranded. Approximately 25,000 residents remaind in their homes, despite the very serious warnings, causing them to have no choice but be airlifted to safety from their roof tops. Many of the levys failed to hold back the high waters back, allowed the lake to over flow into the city and cause approximately 1,300 fatalities. Looting and crime was on the rise as people abandoned all their homes and belongings, causing the lack of people to feel safe to return
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
Overall, more than a thousand people died due to the hurricane and the following floods, making it the most deadly United States hurricane since the 1928 hurricane in Okeechobee. Places East of the Industrial Canal were the first to flood. By the mid-day on August 29, some twenty percent of the city of New Orleans was under water. By the 30th of August, the remaining people of New Orleans were faced with a city which was almost eighty percent submerged in water, while the already stressed levee system continued to break apart. Hurricane Katrina not only killed many people, it also devastated homes and destroyed lives during its run. New Orleans, Louisiana also had the most amount of deaths happen, due to the levee system failing and causing the city to flood. This happened in a lot of cases just hours after the storm moved inland. After a while, eighty percent of the city and large tracts of neighboring parishes were flooded. However, the worst property damage occurred in coastal areas, like the Mississippi beach towns where over ninety percent of them were flooded. Many boats and casino barges rammed buildings, pushing cars and houses inland; water reached six to twelve miles from the
Hurricane Katrina had many short-term and long-term impacts. One short-term effect caused by the massive destruction was significant loss of life. The total death toll is estimated to be 1,833, over 75 percent of the deaths occurred in Louisiana. According to CNN, approximately 40 percent of the deaths in Louisiana were caused by drowning, and 25 percent were caused by some type of injury or trauma. Another impact of the hurricane was the damage that it did to Louisiana’s infrastructure, 80 percent of New Orleans was underwater and many houses even floated off there foundation. Loss of electricity was a huge problem during and after the storm, with over 800,000 people without power, this lead to panic and
Formed off the Bahamas August 23, 2005 and after crossing Florida as a category one hurricane, Katrina entered the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm. Once in the gulf, she stalled, gained strength and once again became a hurricane. August 28, 2005 Katrina reached the highest category available for a hurricane, category five with winds in excess of one hundred and seventy five miles per hour. Downgraded to a category three hurricane before making landfall, Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi took a direct hit from Katrina on August 29, 2005.
On August 29, 2005, people’s lives were about to change forever. A vicious storm called Hurricane Katrina was about to sweep through the Gulf Coast. Not only was this storm big, but it was the 5th greatest hurricane in the history of the United States, and took millions of people by surprise. This storm ruined people’s homes, and lives in less than 24 hours, and nothing would ever be the same again.
Hurricane Katrina was a long-lived hurricane that made landfall three times along the United States coast and reached Category 5 at its peak intensity. The storm initially developed as a tropical depression in the southeastern Bahamas on August 23, 2005. Two days later, it strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane a few hours before making its first landfall between Hallandale Beach and North Miami Beach, Florida. After crossing the tip of the Florida peninsula, Katrina followed a westward track across the Gulf of Mexico before turning to the northwest toward the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina made its second landfall as a strong Category 4 hurricane in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, on August 29, 2005. Wind speeds of over 140 miles per hour
Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast with tremendous force at daybreak, August 29, 2005, severely punishing regions that included the city of New Orleans and its neighboring state Mississippi. Resulting in a total of just over 1700 people killed, and hundreds of thousands missing. When we think of Hurricane Katrina stories, we think of stories that were published by the media such as, “Packing 145-mile-an-hour winds as it made landfall, the category 3 storm left more than a million people in three states without power and submerged highways even hundreds of miles from its center. The hurricane's storm surge a 29-foot wall of water pushed ashore when the hurricane struck the Gulf Coast was the highest ever measured in the United States.