In August of 2005 Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas and quickly gained in
intensity and devastated several parts of the United States, with particular damage to the city of
New Orleans, Louisiana. This paper will discuss the actions that were taken to mitigate the
disaster and restore functionality to the metropolis, and provide an overview of the city’s
programs for responding to such emergencies and its preparedness to handle another such
event in the future.
A sequential treatment of the disaster, focusing on events in the order in which they
occurred, both in terms of the natural disaster itself, and more particularly, the attempts of
government agencies to respond at each stage. This case is of particular interest
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Chowdhury 2
Hurricane Katrina initially formed over the Bahamas as a category 1 hurricane on the
Tuesday of August 23rd, 2005 at 5:00 pm EDT. It was initially unclear what the risk level and
path of the storm would be. The initial tracking and detection of the event was provided by the
National Hurricane Center, as is the standard for hurricanes and tropical storms originating in the
region.
By 1:00 AM of the following Friday, Hurricane Katrina’s wind speeds had decreased to 70
mph and it was downgraded by forecasters to a tropical storm. However, later in the morning
wind speeds picked up and the storm was again upgraded to a category 1. At this time, the eye
of Hurricane Katrina was located off the southern tip of Florida. Though damage was incurred in
the panhandle, the National Hurricane Center announced correctly that the storm was heading
for the coasts of Mississippi and Louisiana.
It was at this point that Louisiana’s Governor, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, declared a
state of emergency. This officially activated the state’s office of Homeland Security and
Emergency Preparedness in its role to provide emergency
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He obliged; this also activated the procedure that, by law, emergency relief efforts
be coordinated under the oversight of FEMA’s federal coordinating officer(FCO). This also
provided for more military personnel and resources to be put into use, so long as it didn’t violate
the stipulations of the Posse Comitatus Act, which imposes restrictions against the use of Active
Duty soldiers in law enforcement.
Chowdhury 4
After midnight, now Sunday, Hurricane Katrina became a Category 4 storm, boasting 145
mph winds. Before 7:00 AM, it had attained Category 5 intensity. At approximately 10:00 AM in a
press conference, Mayor Nagin declared a mandatory evacuation order for the city of New
Orleans. At noon, the doors of the Superdome were opened to special needs individuals seeking
shelter. At this time, the storm was expecting to hit the city at nightfall.
As it turns out, it was closer to 8:00 AM Monday morning that word got out that water was
seen rising on either side of the Industrial Canal. At 8:14, The New Orleans branch of the
National Weather Service called a Flash Flood Warning in 2 parishes citing a levee breach. Less
than an hour later, the Lower Ninth Ward was submerged in approximately 8 feet of water.
New Orleans is a city that is rich in culture as well as history. The city is in effect, an island – Lake Pontchartrain surrounds the city to the north, the Mississippi River to the west and south, and a bevy of lakes – including Lake Borne to the east. Surrounding the city is a series of levees to keep these bodies of water at bay. In addition to these levees, the only defense the city has is a series of canals and a very antiquated pumping system. However, the same levees that protect the city, makes it a death trap should a major hurricane make a direct hit to the metropolitan area. The risk of intense flooding brought forth by storm surges of 20+ feet would wipe the city out.
In New Orleans, officials dynamited a levee south of the city. Water washing across St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes relieved pressure on New Orleans levees, maybe preventing flooding. But those parishes were ruined.
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 of damage and danger all throughout the city, officials claimed that there was work being done to restore the city of New Orleans as a whole but many parts, and even the people, of the city were overlooked while areas of the city with higher economic value, and more tourist traffic, were prioritized along with those individuals.
Perks, Alan R. "The New Orleans Hurricane Protection System: What Went Wrong and Why." Canadian Consulting Engineer, 48.6 (2007): 10.
By August 28, evacuations were underway across the region. That day, the National Weather Service predicted that after the storm hit, “most of the [Gulf Coast] area will be uninhabitable for weeks…perhaps longer.” New Orleans was at particular risk. Though about half the city actually lies above sea level, its average elevation is about six feet below sea level–and it is completely surrounded by water. Over the course of the 20th century, the Army Corps of Engineers had built a system of levees and seawalls to keep the city from flooding. The levees along the Mississippi River were strong and sturdy, but the ones built to hold back Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Borgne and the waterlogged swamps and marshes to the city’s east and west were much less reliable. Even before the storm, officials worried that those levees, jerry-built atop sandy, porous, erodible soil, might not withstand a massive storm surge. Neighborhoods that sat below sea level, many of which housed the city’s poorest and most vulnerable people, were at great risk of
covers the area, causing people, animals, and structures to practically disintegrate. Even years afterwards people were still dying and having
middle of paper ... ... The. “Hurricane Andrew: The Human Side of Recovery.” Disaster Recovery Journal, System Support Inc. 1 Sept. 2001. Web.
Media Coverage on Hurricane Katrina News of the devastating hurricane Katrina and its economic, political, social, and humanitarian consequences dominated global headlines in an unprecedented manner when this natural catastrophe struck the region of New Orleans in mid August 2005 (Katrinacoverage.com). As a tradition, large-scale disasters like Katrina, inevitably, bring out a combination of the best and the worst news media instincts. As such, during the height of Hurricane Katrina’s rage, many journalists for once seized their gag reflex and refused to swallow shallow and misleading excuses and explanations from public officials. Nevertheless, the media’s eagerness to report thinly substantiated rumors may have played a key role in bringing about cultural wreckage that may take the American society years to clean up. To begin with, anybody privy to the events in New Orleans that ensued after Hurricane Katrina struck knows that horrible things that had nothing to do with natural causes happened: there were murders, gunfire directed at a rescue helicopter, assaults and, courtesy of New Orleans’ city police department, a myriad other crimes that most probably went unreported (Katrinacoverage.com).
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters to happen in the United States. The storm resulted in more then US$100 billion in damage when the cities flood protection broke and 80% of the city was flooded (1). The protection failure was not the only cause for the massive flooding, the hurricanes clockwise rotation pulled water from north of New Orleans into the city. 330,000 homes were destroyed and 400,000 people from New Orleans were displaced, along with 13,00 killed (1). Although the population quickly recovered, the rate of recovery slowed down as the years went on leading us to believe not everyone
Hurricanes are born over the warm waters of tropical oceans and are formed by a low-pressure system caused by the heating of water. The heat causes the air to rise and form lower pressures in a feedback loop, making the hurricane stronger. Heavy rain results from a condensation of water and strong winds develop from warm air rushing to the eye of the hurricane. Essentially, greater storms and winds occur when the hurricane feeds of the rising temperature of the water. In addition, researchers studied disturbances and intense thunderstorms in the atmosphere over Western Africa and believe they are partly to blame for extreme hurricanes affecting the United States and Canada. While these are all the main ingredients of a perfectly natural process, they were not the primary causes of the damage done by Hurricane
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
Some of the damage done by Hurricane Katrina could have potentially been avoided if protection systems were installed to the proper extents. In Louisiana, “some parts of the metro area continue to lack hurricane protection built to federal standards” (Webster). Had the greater Louisiana area been better protected, it is very likely that more people would have survived and the total cost of the storm been less. Even in areas where levees...
...ef workers, police, and military personnel. Many felt as if the government cared less because New Orleans mostly consisted of low income African Americans. Looking at the whole situation, its very important to understand all the things that went wrong prior, during, and after the flood in order to create better protection to New Orleans and to any other place a situation like this can arise. The way the government handled the situation allows the people to learn from the consequences of the actions they did not take. This shows Hurricane Katrina was a source of change for everyone who cares enough to acknowledge it happened. The damage it caused was devastating for everything including the economy.
On early morning of August 29th, 2005 on the Gulf Shore near New Orleans, a devastating hurricane struck. It wrecked havoc, demolishing anything in its path. Leaving nothing but mounds of trash. The surviving people were forced to leave due to massive flooding and the destruction of their homes. New Orleans was not the only place hit by Katrina but it was one of the areas that was hit the hardest. Millions of people were affected by this tragedy and the cost range was up in the billions. Crime rates went up, no one had a place to stay and water was polluted. The damage done by Katrina affected New Orleans and the other areas hit years after it struck. Restoration for the areas hit was going to need support from all of America and support groups across the country. No one was ready for this tragedy or could ever predict the horrible outcome.
...he government of Louisiana soon came up with new criteria on how future structure should be built to withstand more natural disasters like these. Not only knowing basic information, knowing how to prepare, and seeing how Hurricane Katrina was so destructive should help the forty five million citizens that live on hurricane prone coastlines prepare for anything like this in the future.