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Hurricane Katrina and the consequences
Hurricane katrina in new orleans
Impacts of Katrina on New Orleans
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Recommended: Hurricane Katrina and the consequences
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.
New Orleans was, and is still, known for their diverse atmosphere due to African, Caribbean, and European influences. The city’s richness in culture and history is what attracts tourists, from all over the country, to New Orleans. There is not only diversity when comparing New Orleans to other cities but also diversity between the different areas of New Orleans as well. Some of these locations include the French Quarter, City Park, and the Aquarium of Americas. The French Quarter consists of the city’s best restaurants which features cuisines from all over the world, a European style marketplace, many museums and theaters to display art pieces of different cultures, and...
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... given the help that they deserved. One can only hope that the government learns from this past encounter with a natural disaster so destructive and hope that safety measures are properly taken in the future and that history will not repeat itself.
Works Cited
"Background on Hurricane Katrina." Do Something. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.
Edelstein, David. "'Trouble The Water' Captures Katrina On Camcorder." NPR. NPR, 29 Aug. 2008. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
Eggers, Dave. Zeitoun. San Francisco: McSweeney's, 2009. Print.
Rudawsky, Gil. "Five Years After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Tourism Rebounds." DailyFinance.com. AOL Inc, 27 Aug. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.
Trouble the Water. Dir. Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. Prod. Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. Zeitgeist Films, 2008. DVD.
Waple, Anne; “Hurricane Katrina”; December 2005; NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC
The film “When the Levees Broke” of spike lee is a four part series covering the events that took place before and after the devastation of Katrina on New Orleans and its residents. In August 2005, New Orleans was struck by Hurricane Katrina. People were unprepared for the disaster. As the city was flooding, levees safeguard failed the city, which caused the city to go underwater. In the film, part 1 shows hurricane Katrina and it’s impact. The flooding, rescue efforts and people trying to survive the disaster. Part 2 shows the aftermath with people that were evacuated waiting for help to come to the city. It was a very slow response to help and everyone was just waiting. Part 3 shows how people started to recover. Many hoped to return to their
Royer, Jordan. “Hurricane Sandy and the importance of being FEMA”, Crosscut.com, Crosscut.com, Web. 1 Nov 2012, 3 May 2014.
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...
Van Heerden, Ivor Ll. "The Failure of the New Orleans Levee System Following Hurricane Katrina and the Pathway Forward." Public Administration Review, 67.6 (2007): 24-35.
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
Great cities are colorful, diverse, and enduring; the city of New Orleans is a gem. Rich in history, culture and natural resources New Orleans provides immense benefits to the rest or our beautiful country. In response to the documentary “When the Levees Broke” made by the notorious Spike Lee, we are faced with many tragic images; however there is never a question that the people of New Orleans are an enduring and kindred community in desperate of need of loving hands. Sharon Keating writes in her editorial “It's time for a nation to return the favor” Sunday, November 20, 2005 Times-Picayune. A key piece to understand is her take on “Great Cities” “They are made by their place and their people, their beauty and their risk. Water flows around and through most of them. And one of the greatest bodies of water in the land flows through this one; the Mississippi. Even though New Orleans sits below sea level the city has proven it’s worth, with a thriving shipping port, universities, hospitals and a culture overflowing with beauty; American’s must ensure the levees are rebuilt.
(Stapp, Katherine) Common Dreams news center Saturday July 2006 by interpress service. "Hurricane Katrina Victims return, but to what?"
According to Hurricane Katrina At Issue Disasters, economic damages from Hurricane Katrina have been estimated at more than $200 billion… More than a million people were displaced by the storm… An estimated 120,000 homes were abandoned and will probably be destroyed in Louisiana alone (At * Issue). For this perspective, “Hurricane Katrina change the Gulf Coast landscape and face of its culture when it hit in 2005” (Rushton). A disaster like Katrina is something the victims are always going to remember, for the ones the lost everything including their love ones. Katrina became a nightmare for all the people that were surround in the contaminated waters in the city of New Orleans. People were waiting to be rescue for days,
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).
The population of New Orleans was steadily decreasing, between the years of 2000 and 2005, 30,000 (6%) of the population left New Orleans in search for better lives (4). The declining population shows us that before Hurricane Katrina residence were already considering leaving the city, some push factors leading them away from the city include poverty and unemployment (5). Accord to the U.S 2005 Census Bureau around 23% of the residence lived in poverty, this can be a result of the nearly 12% unemployment rate (5). With an unemployment rate double the national standard and nearly one forth the population living in poverty, the city of New Orleans had many push factors against it resolution in a decline population prier to Hurricane Katrina. At the time of the storm nearly 400,000 residents were displaced from their homes too near by safe areas or other states. The population reming in the city as decreased to a few thousand (6). A month after the disaster when the levee breaches were repaired and the flood water was pumped out of the city, residence were allowed to return to what was left of their homes. The first reliable estimate of the New Orleans population after Hurricane Katrina was an ‘American Community survey’. The survey projected that by the start of 2006 around one third or 158,000 of the population returned. By the middle of f2006 the city
The average elevation of New Orleans is about six feet below sea level and is completely surrounded by water. As the 20th century progressed, the Army Corps of Engineers built a complex system of seawalls and levees to keep the city from flooding. Two significant event management failures of both the Galveston hurricane and Hurricane Katrina was how late mandatory evacuations were announced and the misjudgement of the how powerful each hurricane would be. Citizens of both cities were both told the day before to leave which is far too late for many. Coupled with late evacuation announcements, both events were mismanaged as both did not stress the potential impact of each hurricane. Contradictory forecasts led both these cities to doom as officials did not like to produce panic in its
It's famous for it's beignets, a square-shaped donut minus the hole, dusted w/ powdered sugar, great w/ coffee. The culture of New Orleans is at its best during Mardi Gras. However, so are hotels, so if you're planning on making the trip and staying in downtown New Orleans, make reservations a few months in advance. Despite the French Quarters old historic appeal, there are many excellent hotels to stay at.
The natural disaster in 2005 proved to be a major blow to many authoritative figures and organizations. Their failure to responsibly provide citizens’ safety at emergency situations left scars all around the world. The federal government had failed to completely step in when stae and local authorities exhibited minimal signs of motivation to support the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. In response to the film “When the Levees Broke” by director Spike Lee, the documentary clearly displayed the devastating situation that citizens were stuck in, but with few and late assistance from their own governmental representatives, citizens were fighting to survive. To make matters worse, the people were the first in sight to provide assistance to their
Fink, Sheri. "Hurricane Katrina: after the flood." The Gaurdian. N.p., 7 Feb. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Hurricanes occur all over the world, at different times, but commonly through June first and late November. However in late August 2005 a catastrophic hurricane struck. This was Hurricane Katrina. With winds traveling over one hundred miles per hour making it a category five on the Saffir- Simpson Hurricane Scale it was said to have cause billions of dollars’ worth of damage. Hurricane Katrina flooded nearly forty thousand homes, and killed at least two thousand people (“Hurricane”). An average category five hurricane has enough energy to power street lamps for more than twenty seven thousand hours (Williams 58). Knowing about Hurricane Katrina, and the devastation of the city in New Orleans would be beneficial. Also, general information on hurricanes can help civilians and people of higher authority better understand and prepare for damage that could once hit their town and community. Because experts know the general information on these storms they can help explain to the public why and how Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes occur. Hopefully, in the future civilians will know and use this information to their advantage against hurricanes.