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Impacts of hurricane katrina
Impacts of hurricane katrina
Impacts of hurricane katrina
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Why Deadly Hurricane Storms can be so Dangerous
“Louisiana loses 30 miles a year off our coast. We lost 100 miles last year off our coast thanks to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We have lost a size of land equivalent to the entire state of Rhode Island” - Bobby Jindal. When people see a hurricane on the news, they should realize how bad it really is, and why it becomes so bad. A hurricane is a storm with a violent wind, in particular, a tropical cyclone in the Caribbean. Hurricanes are things people see almost too often on the news, and informing people about how treacherous they are is very necessary.
There are many reasons why hurricanes are dangerous according to “How Dangerous are They?” by Scholastic, including wind damage, storm surge
damage, and flood damage. First and foremost, wind damage makes hurricanes dangerous. “Hurricane-force winds, 74 mph or more, can destroy poorly constructed buildings and mobile homes.” (Scholastic 1). This shows that wind damage of a hurricane can wipe out a poorly constructed town or a neighborhood of mobile homes. Secondly, storm surge damage makes hurricanes dangerous. “The surge of high water topped by waves is devastating. The stronger the hurricane and the shallower the offshore water, the higher the surge will be. Along the immediate coast, storm surge is the greatest threat to life and property” (Scholastic 1). That means that hurricane surge, for a person living on the coast, would be a terrible threat to people’s lives. Finally, flood damage makes hurricanes dangerous. Widespread torrential rains often in excess of 6 inches can produce deadly and destructive floods. This is the major threat to areas well inland. This means that flood damage caused by hurricanes can produce 6-inch rain creating a deadly flood. Informing people about how treacherous they are is necessary because they are almost always on the news. Recently, Hurricane Matthew much of the Caribbean. Considering these facts, people should consider taking action in the Caribbean. Haiti is a poor country that is unfortunately attacked by too many tropical storms. Helping over there could make many lives better.
Hurricanes are formed over tropical waters. These intense storms consist of winds over 74 miles per hour (Ahrens & Sampson, 2011). The storms addressed here are Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. This paper will explore the contrasts and comparisons between these two horrific storms.
Only 26 miles long and not even 1 mile wide, Topsail Island offers a unique environment blending the Atlantic Ocean and the Intercostal Waterway. Although mostly peaceful and scenic, the vast beach that stretches the entire length of the island and the plethora of colorful summer homes that crowd the limited space are prone to obliteration. Extremely susceptible to hurricanes, Topsail survives off federal aid to rebuild and redevelop. There are more tourist traps and junk store littered about the island than grocery stores due to FEMA and the Federal government pouring millions of dollars into the salvaging the barrier island, attempting to rebuild the beaches and consequently boosting the economy and tourism. Though known to be a sinkhole for federal subsidies, the island sponsors numerous environmental projects protecting local wildlife and promoting sustainability. Following frequent destruction from hurricanes over the past two decades, Topsail Island has responded in an ironic manner by both rebuilding and developing while also expanding its growing concern with environmental protection.
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most interesting and deadly hurricane to ever hit the United States. This hurricane devastated New Orleans and all of its inhabitants. This hurricane was especially devastating as New Orleans is 13 feet(3.9624 metres) below sea level. The government wasn’t prepared for the damage of New Orleans, and neither were the Levees. The Levee crash was one of the major causes of the flooding in New Orleans. The deaths and damages cost billions. After this storm many people didn’t want to move back to their home, New
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,
Imagine that a family is sitting at home watching a calm game of baseball, when suddenly they realize that a massive wall of water is approaching the neighborhood. Where did this flash flood come from, a reader might ask? The wall of water was made by the raging winds and immense power of Hurricane Andrew. Hurricane Andrew was the second most expensive storm in history that destroyed over 250,000 homes in the states of Florida and Louisiana alone. Hurricane Andrew was not predicted to make landfall, so when it did many civilians did not have any ideas that the Hurricane was coming until it was almost too late. Hurricane Andrew also caused many short and long term effects in the ecosystem and local economies.
A hurricane is easily the most powerful storm that mother-nature can throw at us. Every year people who live on the coasts fight hurricanes with no dismay. A hurricane is simply too strong. Their winds reach speeds of 75 mph. The winds around the eye wall can reach 130 to 150 mph. They are 200 to 300 miles in diameter. The number of casualties is endless, as well as the widespread destruction that takes millions of dollars to repair. Even if the hurricane doesn’t cause a lot of damage, the storm surge will. Storm surge is the great tidal waves that crash into our coasts and make huge floods that are caused by hurricanes.
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
On August 29th, 2006 New Orleanians were expecting a total of 12 to 15 inches of rain and extended five or six inches from the upcoming storm later known as the costliest hurricane in U.S history. The Category 3 hurricane devastated most of eastern North America with blustery winds of 170 mph (280 km per hour) and storm surge values ranging from 10 to 20 feet. The storm called ‘’Hurricane Katrina’’ originated in the Bahamas on August 23th, 2005, but only became a devastation the next day. On August 28th, Hurricane Katrina succeeded a Category 3 hurricane(sustained winds of 122 kt) and exceeded the limits of a Category 5 storm (sustained winds of 136 kt). The following day, the cyclone shifted northwest towards Mississippi and Louisiana, where the hurricane hit the hardest. New Orleans was one of the cities where the most damage was caused; leaving a negative environment, residential and economic effects on the Gulf Coast.
On August 29, 2005, the third strongest and biggest hurricane ever recorded in American history hit the Gulf Coast at eight o’clock a.m. The interaction between a tropical depression and a tropical wave created a tropical storm later referred to as Hurricane Katrina (FAQS, 2013). Forming over the Bahamas, Hurricane Katrina gradually strengthened as it moved closer and closer to the Gulf of Mexico. Recorded on August 28th, 2005, Katrina jumped from a category three storm to a category five storm with maximum sustained winds up to 160 miles per hour. Although other hurricanes, such as Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Wilma, exceeded Katrina, this dominant storm was classified as the fourth most intense hurricane based its pressure capacity. Once Hurricane Katrina hit land, it was pronounced as a category four storm moving slowly. While people thought that the slow speed of this storm prevented trauma, records show that Katrina did more damage than any fast-moving storm could have ever achieved (Solanki, 2013). Katrina produced abundant debris. The debris was in such large quantity that if it was stacked together on a football field, the rubble would reach the elevation of ten and a half miles. The size of Katrina also caused 90,000 square miles to be affected. Once proclaimed a category three storm, Hurricane Katrina slowed to the speed of 155 miles per hour. At this point in time, Katrina proved to be the sixth most prevailing hurricane traced in history. (Solanki, 2013). Several different aspects of life were impacted by Hurricane Katrina such as availability of gasoline, economic issues, and the ability to have an adequate supply of drinking water (Solanki, 2013). Hurricane Katrina was a large storm ...
Mother Nature cannot be controlled and as humans we are forced to deal with various natural disasters. We have earth quakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, tornadoes and many other types of events that are weather driven. Many natural disasters affect our everyday lives and individuals may be forced to safe areas to protect themselves from potential danger. Natural disasters can also place a financial burden on people in affected communities. Hurricanes are strong storms that have been hitting the United States for as long as history can remember. Many hurricanes have hit the southeastern part of the United States the past 100 years. Some of these hurricanes have left little effect of society while others have scarred into the history
Hurricanes are powerful and destructive storms that involve great rain and wind. The United States of America has dealt with many hurricanes that have cost a great amount of damage. However, there is one hurricane that happened in 2005 that stands out among the others, Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst hurricanes to hit the United States, a category 5 on the Saffir/Simpson Hurricane Scale. An estimated 1836 people died because of the hurricane and the floodings that happened after (Zimmermann 1). Katrina initially beg...
In the hurricane the mixture of the water and winds can be extremely damaging. The winds are extremely dangerous and usually don’t go faster than about 75 miles per hour but have been documented to go as fast as 85 miles per hour. Due to the fact that hurricanes need water to survive they cannot go too far on land, but that does not stop them from causing billions of dollars in damages. Hurricanes are so dangerous that they were listed number 1 on the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Hazard and Disasters list.
Hurricanes originate as tropical disturbances over warm oceans with trade winds. The tropical turbances intensify into tropical depressions, and eventually into a tropical storm. They only originate in the tropical trade winds because the ocean temperatures are quite warm there. Powered from the heat that the sea gives off, they are steered by the east trade winds and the temperate west ones, as well as by their own ferocious energy. Around their core, winds grow with a tremendous amount of velocity creating violent seas. As they move toward the shore, they move the ocean inward, while spawning tornadoes and producing torrential rains and floods.
A Hurricane is a tropical storm with winds more than 74 miles per hour (mph). Hurricane wind damage is influenced by the duration and change of wind direction, amount of rainfall and how well land structures are build. Hurricanes are measure in five different categories and each category can produce different degree of damages. Category One Hurricane has sustained winds 74-95 mph. Category Two Hurricane has sustained winds of 96-110 mph with very strong winds that can produce widespread damage and extensive damage to power lines. Category Three Hurricane has sustained winds of 111-130 mph that will cause extensive damage with near total power loss that could last several days to weeks. Category Four Hurricane has sustained winds of 131-155 with extremely dangerous winds causing devastating damage. Finally, a category five hurricane has sustained winds greater than 155 mph. This is a catastrophic damage storm. Category five can have severe injury or death due to wind blown debris. A Category five hurricane can produce extensive power outages that will last for weeks to perhaps months. Therefor...
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.