...Over seven years ago, one of the deadliest hurricanes struck the United States on the early morning of August 29, 2005. Hurricane Katrina was an extraordinary powerful hurricane that took the lives of several people, and it is considered the third deadliest hurricane to ever strike the country on top of being the costliest. Devastation spread throughout the central Gulf Coast as people from the affected areas evacuated their cities in hopes that they would have a home and a place to work when they returned. Katrina made landfall at three different locations, but its impact was seen all throughout the world as people came together to restore the destruction created by the storm. For the past 30 years, inland flooding has been the primary cause of hurricane-related fatalities with fatalities due to strong winds not far behind. Most hurricanes can produce a rainfall of least 6-12 inches, or 15-30 centimeters. Inland residents have to be cautious of slow-moving storms (NG). From its center, Katrina spread over 100 miles, or 160 kilometers, and is the largest hurricane of its strength to have ever struck the United States. It is recorded as the third strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States and named sixth as the strongest hurricane ever recorded. Out of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, Katrina was the 11th named storm as well as the 5th hurricane and second Category 5 hurricane (DISCOVERY). The Saffir-Simpson scale measures hurricane intensity by placing them...
Words: 2432 - Pages: 10
...devastating natural disasters, Hurricane Katrina, hit near New Orleans, Louisiana and caused more than 9,000 confirmed casualties and $96 billion in damage. The lack of communication, cooperation, confusion, being able to share responsibilities and other factors made this chaotic event even more chaotic when the affected areas were trying to recover from the storm. A storm in which Louisiana just wasn't prepared for. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency made to reduce the loss of life and property, and protect the nation from hazards of all kinds through preparedness, protection, response and recovery. They were involved in helping with the recovery of Hurricane Katrina. However 13 months before the hurricane hit FEMA started a simulation plan called Hurricane Pam that if they would have finished would have been very helpful in the recovery process. FEMA still helped out at they could through. They were constantly working 24 hour shifts and having 25 search and rescue teams out helping. They only have 2,600 people involved in FEMA, so they had most of their workers out helping FEMA was also big on respecting those who died from the storm. They put in huge efforts in trying to recover dead bodies and respecting the dead by asking the media not taking pictures of those who passed. Michael Brown, the director of FEMA, was put in charge for a while until Michael Chertoff removed him from being in charge of the Katrina case. When Brown was in charge though...
Words: 1983 - Pages: 8
...Hurricane Katrina is one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States of America. It took thousands lives of citizens of New Orleans, left them without homes and families, and changed their lives forever. Many of those who survived the hurricane died waiting for help to come. Hurricane Katrina exposed the existence of ''two Americas''. It took government several days to get help to the victims of Katrina in New Orleans. After watching Spike Lee's documentary ''When The Levees Broke'' I learned that the Government doesn't care about its citizens. After Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency failed to do what it was created to do - provide immediate relief to the victims of the disasters. People were waiting for help for days, suffering from the heat, lack of food and drinking water and watching their loved ones die without medical help. Those who were tired to wait for the rescue buses and started to walk toward the Gretna bridge were turn around at the gun point. They were not allowed in, like they were citizens of another country- refugees, and thats how the media called people of New Orleans. The disaster of Hurricane Katrina could've been avoided if the levees that protect city would have been designed and built properly. I believe that Federal Government and other officials were aware of the situation for a very long time and still did nothing to protect the people of New Orleans. Most of the citizens of...
Words: 409 - Pages: 2
...Hurricane Katrina was one of the five deadliest and most destructive hurricanes in United States History. There were at least 1833 deaths and 80 billion in damages. I was not personally affected by Hurricane Katrina. However, I remember seeing news coverage on the tragedy. I remember seeing all the destruction that the hurricane had caused, seeing people trying to hold on to whatever they could. I was in middle school at the time and several students who were survivors of the tragedy were move to my class. This one student in particular I remember him telling me how his family had lost everything. He was worried how him and his five siblings and his mother were going to make it; they were in a new place and they knew no one. He shared with me that even though he was happy that him and his family were safe he missed New Orleans and wanted to go back. After several months I did not see him anymore. I am not sure if he did make it back to New Orleans. Anthony David Feat. Algebra & Phonte Kenny Lattimore – “For You” Luther Vandross – “Here And Now Monica – “Angel of Mine” Kc JoJO all my life Eric Benet Tamia Spend My life with you Jagged edge lets get married Luther/Mariah endless Mariah carey Monica for you I will Lovin you Mariah carey vision love Emeli sande ny kind of love John Legend All of me John Legend Nobody in the world Jagged edge rest of my life The one he kept for me You Caught me Tori Kelly Beyonce my heart still beats Your my everything boys...
Words: 695 - Pages: 3
...Hurricane Katrina According to (Brunner, 2007), Hurricane Katrina slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, destroying beachfront towns in Mississippi and Louisiana, displacing a million people, and killing almost 1,800. When levees in New Orleans were breached, eighty percent of the city was submerged by the flooding. About twenty percent of its 500,000 citizens were trapped in the city without power, food, or drinking water. Rescue efforts were so delayed and haphazard that many were stranded for days on rooftops and in attics before help arrived. The city became a toxic pool of sewage, chemicals, and corpses, and in the ensuing chaos, mayhem and looting became rampant; about fifteen percent of the city’s police force had simply walked off the job. The 20,000 people who made their way to the Superdome, the city’s emergency shelter, found themselves crammed into sweltering and fetid conditions. At a second shelter, the convention center, evacuees were terrorized by roaming gangs and random gunfire. Relief workers, medical help, security forces, and essential supplies remained profoundly inadequate during the first critical days of the disaster. New Orleans was in the path of that particular storm. I remember it like it was yesterday. My family and I received minor damage from this hurricane that year. We were left in the dark for over a week when this storm occurred. The city was mostly deserted during this storm. It was mostly the poor...
Words: 600 - Pages: 3
...Hurricane Katrina Jordan Edge Herron High School In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the gulf coast and left widespread devastation in its path. New Orleans was the hardest hit and most affected area in path of the hurricane. As well as physical damage, the hurricane had economic, social, political, and environmental effects on the entire eastern seaboard. The physical storm effects of hurricane Katrina reached states as far north as Ohio, and resulted in a large shift in population from southern states. Hurricane Katrina was one of the most powerful storms to impact the United States in the last 100 years. During its time in the Atlantic and the central part of the gulf, Katrina reached specifications to be classified as a category 5 hurricane with estimated wind speeds as high as 175 miles per hour (NOAA). When it reached shores in the gulf, Hurricane Katrina was classified as a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale and had estimated wind speeds of 125 miles per hour (Anne Waple). In terms of economic impact brought about by the hurricane, the largest contributing factor was the disruption of the oil industries located in the affected regions. According to Anne Waple (2010), “Preliminary estimates from the Mineral Management Service suggest that oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was reduced by 1.4 million barrels per day (or 95 % of the daily Gulf of Mexico production) as a result of the hurricane.” In direct result to the disruption of...
Words: 1068 - Pages: 5
...6/3/14 Period 2 Hurricane Katrina My family and I were living in New Orleans at the time and it was less than 24 hours before the hurricane hit. You could hardly tell though, the weather was beautiful outside. The sun was out and there wasn’t a single cloud in sight. So my friend and I went to Seven Eleven to grab some junk food we could take to the shelter with us before the storm hit. As I walked into the store, I couldn’t help but notice a suspicious looking guy standing over by the Slurpee machines. He gave me the most intimidating look and stared at me for a good minute. That’s when I got the feeling that something wasn’t right. Something really bad was about to happen. I grabbed my friend and insisted that we leave . I told her how the guy was about to do something but she figured I was just being paranoid, and so she just continued to look for junk food. I looked over to see if the guy was still standing there but he was gone. All of a sudden I hear people screaming. I look over to see an man pointing a gun at the cashier and another guy waving a gun at the customers. My heart fell into my stomach. I grabbed my friend and ran to hide in the next aisle. I pulled out my phone and started to dial 911, but right then and there, the guy spotted me. I froze in fear as he came toward me with his gun. He pointed the gun at me. I knew that was the moment my life was going to end. All of a sudden, loud sirens began to go off throughout...
Words: 347 - Pages: 2
...Hurricane Katrina: Race and Class in America and the Failure of Its Government Carlus R. Townsend English 215 2/25/12 Introduction How hurricane Katrina exposed Racism in the US Hurricane Katrina that happened 7 years ago was a natural adversity. Few years following Hurricane Katrina, individuals are still feeling the repercussion and queries of racism. Katrina uncovered racism and division inequality in America, and the way the government failed the citizens in so many aspects. Many black people residing in New Orleans that were affected felt as if they considered themselves as genocide victims compared to what happened to them and the treatment they received after the hurricane. The majority of the affected people were blacks and this paper try to analyze how the victims of the hurricane were discriminated upon because of their race and face unbearable inequality because of their race ethnicity. Discrimination against Hurricane Katrina victims Various people, particularly the politicians, spoke out insisting that the comparison of the holocaust was inappropriate, as there was no use of any gas chambers utilization. This resulted to many people wondering if the act of racism was in existence without absolute violence. Communities residing in New Orleans insists that individuals died because of utter neglect. This took place because the affected persons were the black race, and so the government neglected them and was not concerned to what happened...
Words: 1918 - Pages: 8
...Covering Katrina “Let people know the facts and the country will be safe” - Abraham Lincoln. Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst natural and subsequently man-made disasters of the year 2005 Katrina and its aftermath has gone down in history as one of the governments worst response to a domestic emergency. As a way of giving understanding to the search and rescue aspect of Katrina, The Times- Picayune printed a guide to the spray painted markings on people’s homes. Each aspect of the X marking had a meaning. The top numbers represents the date that that home was searched, the left is for who searched it, the right is a warning or potential gas leaks or drowned wires, and the bottom represents the body count. This has to be the most gruesome part of the guide itself. It was a reminder that lives were lost due to the storm, human error, and plain neglect. The rescue markings are a haunting reminder of the wrath of Katrina. Journalist Chris Rose said at a elegy, “Who grieved over 1 dead in attic and who buried 1 dead in attic?” at a elegy. This sort of coverage changes the averages Americans mindset from one of apathy to one of empathy. It make you not think of the lost as nameless and faceless people, but instead of as some ones sister, brother or friend. One part of the exhibit that stuck out to me the most was the plywood from the Oriental Rugs store in New Orleans. The wooden board read “you know what it means to miss New Orleans y’all come back 4 carnival. I have...
Words: 690 - Pages: 3
...Matthew Simmons 3/1/2013 Huricane Katrina Study Public Admin Hurricane Katrina was the single worst natural disaster to strike The United States in recorded history. There is really nothing that could have prevented the category three storm, as was the strength when it mad landfall, from wreaking havoc on the Gulf coast of Louisiana as well as Mississippi. There are however certainly some measures that could have been taken to prevent loss of life as it appeared Katrina would make landfall around New Orleans. With a storm as powerful as Katrina was, Mayor C. Ray Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco, would have been well served to physically enforce evacuation of the city. As Katrina approached it was a category five storm, much more powerful than the levee system, implemented by the Army Corps of Engineers to protect the city, was designed to protect against. Even though as it finally did strike it was downgraded to category three, the category the levees were rated for, the levees failed any way, which is a contingency state and local government should have been more prepared to face. It can be said that it is impossible to be fully prepared for anything, but in a city that is predominantly below sea level, located in a path that hurricanes travel, evacuation should have been conducted in a more effective manner. Since prevention was not successful, Mayor Nagin was required to enact a plan to rebuild and recover. President Bush himself called for...
Words: 268 - Pages: 2
...Tameka Whitney Introduction to Geography April 7, 2013 Hurricane Katrina On August 29, 2005 the Gulf Coast of The United States would change forever. The country watch from near and far as one of the strongest hurricanes in the past century made landfall. It caused havoc for so many. The days leading up the predicted landfall of Katrina, many residence of the South from Louisiana to Florida took warning and evacuated. It was the less fortunate fold such as the elderly, homeless and the immobile that were left to “ride” the storm out or find means to get to safer grounds. From Biloxi, Mississippi to New Orleans folks scrambled to take what they could salvage. As Katrina made landfall with a punch carrying hurricane force winds sustained at 125mph with a central pressure recorded to be the third lowest on record (Hurricane Katrina, NOAA). According to the Saffir and Simpson scale, Katrina made a rating of a Category 3 at landfall. With Katrina’s strength it broke sea walls and levees that were in place to hold the waters back from such storms. As the levees failed on the Mississippi River at New Orleans, Katrina pushed on ward flooding at least 80% of New Orleans with 3-10 feet of water (Getis, Pg. 81) Hurricane Katrina moved on land and vanished into the Ohio Valley and Northeast causing a major rainfall event for them. The real reality was just beginning to unfold as residence of the Gulf Coast were watch and seeing firsthand what devastation was left behind. Lives...
Words: 614 - Pages: 3
...Datrel Johnson Professor Peter Johnson Geography 101 25 August 2013 Describe Hurricane Katrina Beginning in the 1950s, the United States have witnessed two Category Five Storms and seven Category Four Storms naming Hurricane Katrina as one of the most deadly Category Four hurricanes to hit the Gulf Coast. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina dismantled several sections of the levee which caused it to collapse. The storm then breeched the New Orleans’ levee system allowing Lake Ponchartrain and the Mississippi River to flow in the heart of the city. Furthermore, a tremendous amount of damages occurred throughout the coast of Mississippi and Alabama. The state of Louisiana sustained most of the damages not just from Hurricane Katrina, “but also to a unique physiographic setting of New Orleans.” (Locke) The storm, Hurricane Katrina was identified as powerful and huge because of the well-formed eye of a typical category four hurricane. Throughout the duration, warm sea water was its fuel for continued momentum and power. The intensity had “closely matched the water temperature” which led the hurricane to reach its peak intensity; category five. (Locke) The storm predicted maximum “rainfall east of the storm-eye track.” (Locke) As Hurricane Katrina took her course, evidence provided “that the right front quadrant” was indeed the most powerful part of the hurricane. (Locke) “The powerful winds and rain occurred here because of rotational winds and steering winds (the prevailing...
Words: 788 - Pages: 4
...Housing market in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina Table of contents 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………3 2. Pre-Katrina situation ………………………..…………………………………..4 3. After-Katrina situation…………………………………………………………..6 4. Current situation New Orleans….………………………………………………8 5. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...…9 6. References…………………………………………………………………….….10 Introduction It is August 29th of 2005 when the United States of America is badly affected by one of history’s most catastrophic nature disasters. Hurricane Katrina hits the south of New Orleans and causes severe damage to this city. This second biggest hurricane in the entire history of America left 80 percent of New Orleans flooded, approximately 80 billion dollars of damage and more than 1800 killed civilians. Due to this disaster, New Orleans was almost completely destroyed including the residences of thousands of families. Not only were there economic enormous problems but also political questions rose by that time. The president by then, president Bush, came in discredit because of cutting in the federal funding which was protecting New Orleans. Since then a lot of things have actually changed but unfortunately, too late. Complete neighborhoods were removed from the map, people became homeless and moved to different places. The effects on the housing market in New Orleans were immense. Because of the effect hurricane Katrina had on the housing market in New Orleans...
Words: 2121 - Pages: 9
...Running Header HURRICANE KATRINA Implementation Failure Stephanie Anderson Public Policy and Social Services Sociology 320 Professor John Zurovchak February 20, 2012 1 Hurricane Katrina In 2005 the United States experienced a tough lesson regarding it's preparedness related to natural diasters and it's ability to respond to the needs of it's citizens. The arrival of hurricane Katrina and the devastation that followed, revealed many weaknesses in the country's structure regarding a national emergency response system. The issues identified as the Federal Government attempted to respond to the situation revealed numerous area's of opportunity, regarding the country's lack of readiness to respond. Some of the challenges that surfaced with the wake of Katrina: Ineffective National Preparedness, Public Communication, Public Safety, Search and Rescue and Homeland Security Professional Development and Education to name a few. These challenges made it impossible for the Federal Government to provide a timely and effective response to the devastation. With the challenges that surfaced, it became apparent that new policies would need to be implemented in order to prevent the breakdown and lack of preparedness experienced with Katrina. The first being a need to adopt an effective policy regarding National Preparedness, our current system ...
Words: 812 - Pages: 4
...The initial response or lack thereof, to the widespread disaster in the Gulf Coast, caused by Hurricane Katrina, demonstrated high levels of incompetence and disorganization by government officials. Images of desperate individuals awaiting rescue on their rooftops, and masses of people packed together in deplorable conditions in the Super Dome, circulated the globe. There was no hiding from the painful reality and the obvious inaction or inability of those responsible to care for these individual in the wake of this catastrophe. Although a considerable amount of the blame has been placed at the feet of FEMA, it should be understood that multiple factors contributed to the situation in New Orleans. Some sections of the levees had been poorly constructed, and were not properly maintained. Local agencies failed to adequately plan and prepare of such an event. Local officials waited too long to order an evacuation, and did not consider how to assist those citizens who lacked the financial resources to evacuate on their own. Many of the obstacles and complications encountered during Hurricane Katrina may have been avoided if the training exercise labeled “Hurricane Pam” would have been completed in 2004. The fictional exercise was five-days long, and was intended to help prepare New Orleans for a category 4 hurricane. Over 50 officials from state, volunteer, and federal organizations participated, unfortunately FEMA caused an early termination of this event by pulling its funding...
Words: 1917 - Pages: 8
