The Devastation of Hurricanes, Some Facts About Hurricane Katrina

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In August of 2005, a category 5 hurricane struck land along the Gulf Coast. This storm was given the name Hurricane Katrina. The United States Department of Commerce reports in its October 2005 technical report, Hurricane Katrina, A Climatological Perspective, that this was the most costly disaster to devastate the US since September of 1928 and that this was the strongest storm to hit the US within the past 100 years. Hurricane Katrina caused widespread, massive destruction throughout many central Gulf Coast states including Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. Thousands of people went weeks without basic essentials. The death toll was reported at 1800 people and the damages totaled $125 billion (DOC, 2005). Although the impact on every city hit was awful, the most gruesome destruction was on New Orleans, Louisiana.

Hurricane Katrina brought massive rainfall and violent winds with it as traveled through the Gulf and approached land. These forces worked together to destroy everything in its path, including the levees in New Orleans. Levees are man-made structures built to protect cities which sit at a low elevation from flooding. Hurricane Katrina exploited the levees’ capacities, fractured the system, and flooded roughly 80% of the city.

Governmental Failures

Although a nation cannot dodge the bullet of a gun Mother Nature shoots, a nation can prepare for such a disaster to mitigate the effects. Hurricane Katrina was known of well in advance and the vulnerabilities of New Orleans’ geographical location were realized; so why were the effects so horrific?

In a special report created by the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (CHSGA) titled, HURRICANE KATRINA: A NATION STILL UNPREPARED, the three main...

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The last major statue endorsed after hurricane Katrina was the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (Sections of P.L. 109-364 (H.R. 5122)). This act authorizes appropriations for military, construction, and defense activities for the 2007 fiscal year.

The FEMA administrator is to now update “risk-based target capabilities” (ANG, 2006). He must present guidelines to include preparedness priorities, and supports mutual aid agreements among states. The head of the FEMA is now required to submit a report to various congressional committees in order to try to contract some response requirements in advance. New programs were developed to provide officials with more knowledge of emergency management responsibilities. The FEMA director must also now carry out a national exercise program, to test systems and response of officials.

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