The Impact Of Hurricane Katrina

On August 29th, 2005 Hurricane Katrina caused catastrophic damage and flooding in Mississippi, Louisiana, New Orleans and areas in between. It destructed the lives and homes of thousands of people, with a total of 1,883 fatalities (Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts, 2015). Hurricane Katrina left many homeless and hospitals unprepared for the challenges posed to the healthcare system as a whole. Some of these challenges included gaining access to healthcare facilities, providing expedited care to those most in need, and preventing spread of disease that commonly occurs during natural disasters. Many facilities did not evacuate in time and many were left stranded in flooded waters as patients conditions worsened and access to essential medications and treatments became limited.

The devastating and deeply rooted traumatic effects of Hurricane Katrina will live in the psyches of the people of New Orleans and beyond for generations to come. Katrina was the largest and third strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States barreling in as a Category 5 with up to 175 mile-per-hour winds and a 20-ft storm surge that would create a humanitarian emergency with the likes never before seen in the United States. This hurricane caused unimaginable death, destruction, and displacement, leaving a known death toll of 1,836 and an unknown number thought to be washed out to sea. The real truth is we will never know exactly how many people lost their lives during Hurricane Katrina.

“When communities are rebuilt, they must be even better and stronger than before the storm,” (“Bush”). This is what former president George W. Bush said during his speech in New Orleans concerning the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was a massive natural disaster that consisted of high powered winds and immense amounts of water. The hurricane was initially a category 3, but gradually rose to the classification of a category 5 storm, which is the largest storm there is (“Hurricane Irene”). In fact, there were accounts of winds recorded at about 127 miles per hour in the Gulf areas such as Grand Isle, Louisiana, and near the Mississippi River (“Hurricane Katrina Statistics”). All of these factors are made

During times of extreme poverty and inequality more attention is provided to those in hardship. A prime example of this is New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. Before the hurricane hit the only time I had hear of New Orleans was if someone was speaking about doing down to Mardi Gras. The people affected by the hurricane lost a lot. Many lost their homes, tangible possessions stored in their homes, animals, and some lost their lives. Hurricane Katrina was a huge devastation to the country, but many survivors say they did not get adequate supplies, shelter, food, or support (Lee, S, 2006).

Hurricane Katrina was a catastrophic natural disaster in American history. The aftermath had substantial negative impact on New Orleans and it could have been avoided if proper disaster management practices were put in place. Therefore, it is important to determine the factors that caused the hurricane to be catastrophic. One factor that was responsible for the disaster was failure of the three levels of the government working cohesively (Thiede & Brown, 2013). The incoherent interaction between the three levels of government will be assessed. Another factor that will be examined is social and psychological refusal of Hurricane Katrina

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, two days later roughly eighty percent of New Orleans was underwater. This hurricane ranked number three in the thirty deadliest US Hurricanes (Weather Underground, 2007). This disaster has had a ripple effect on the economy, the environment, the population of New Orleans, and the habitats of animals in that area. It also put to death over 1,500 people in Louisiana, more than half were senior citizens. In New Orleans, 134,000 housing units —70% of all occupied units — suffered damage from this Hurricane.

The devastating and deeply rooted traumatic effects of Hurricane Katrina will live in the psyches of the people of New Orleans and beyond for generations to come. Katrina was the largest and third strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States barreling in as a Category 5 with up to 175 mile-per-hour winds and a 20-ft storm surge that would create a humanitarian emergency with the likes never before seen in the United States. This hurricane caused unimaginable death, destruction, and displacement, leaving a death toll of 1,836 and an unknown number thought to be washed out to sea. The real truth is we will never know exactly how many people lost their lives during Hurricane Katrina.

I am writing to you in regards to the recent disaster that hit New Orleans, Louisiana “Hurricane Katrina.” Besides the death toll, hurricane Katrina left many people homeless as more than 800,000 housing units were destroyed or damaged in the storm. Katrina is the costliest U.S hurricane, with estimated damage over $81 billion and costs over $160 billion (2005 US dollars). I believe that the socioeconomic impact of “Katrina” was not felt equally amongst the different classes. Those who were wealthier typically whites were able to flee, and the poor typically black were unable to flee to safety, and suffered the worst during and after ‘Katrina.” Many of the residents were displaced to different states which included Texas, Colorado, Illinois, North Carolina, Oklahoma to name a few. In a study conducted by Kaplan- Meier called the Displaced New Orleans Residents Pilot Study showed the discrepancy amongst blacks and whites and their duration of displacement. One-quarter of white residents had returned to the city within 2 months of Hurricane Katrina, whereas it took an additional month for one-quarter of the black residents to return. The durations at which half of the pre-hurricane population of blacks and whites returned to New Orleans differ greatly. In particular, half of white residents had returned within 3 months of the storm; on the other hand, fewer than half of black residents had returned. (Kaplan- Meier) A poll done by Newsweek magazine showed

On a normal August day, Hurricane Katrina inflicted massive damage on 3 of the poorest states in the United States. Mississippi, with a poverty rate of 22 percent; Louisiana, with a poverty rate of 20 percent; and Alabama, with a poverty rate of 22 percent (Rodriguez, H. & Aguirre, B, E.). Katrina was the cause of one of the biggest evacuations of any major American city in history. These cities also housed a major socio-economic gap with over 23 percent of the residents living in some form of poverty (Schneider, 2007). Over 1 million Americans were forced to leave their ruined homes, especially in areas like New Orleans where the majority of the affected citizens were forced to relocate elsewhere. As many as half of a million people have been relocated to other states of refuge, like Texas and many of which have high rates of poverty themselves like the 22 percent of Texans (Schneider, 2007).

Another questionable aspect of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans is the police’s interactions public. Although the topic was not very heavily reported, the locals all had very different opinions about how the police handled the situation and communicated with the locals.

As Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans, federal and local officials underestimated the severity of the storm. Once the storm hit, they believed that it was not horrible and that it would be easy to recover from the storm. They were not expecting the levee system to fail and that 80% of the city would be under water hours after the storm passed. Once the levees failed, it took days before residents of New Orleans to get the help that they needed and many people lost their lives waiting for help. Since many New Orleans police officers lived in the city, they were the first to respond to the crisis. Due to the lack of electricity, it was hard for officials to communicate with each other, making crisis response difficult. People reported acts of violence without actually having proof. The media publicized the inaccurate information without getting evidence.

Hurricane Katrina was a historical natural disaster that affected millions of people. Televised nationally, as the damage was revealed, seemed surreal and the lives lost along with property damages is heartbreaking. I have family in New Orleans, whom were affected; however, no lives were lost. The power of water should never be underestimated, as many feared damage from the wind, and did not consider the water. After the levees broke, supply was immediately affected. By the oil refining being inoperable for several weeks, gasoline was scarce (Carden, 2010, p. 82). First responders, medical providers, and emergency rescue teams were needed instantly. As people were trapped in their homes, on top of their roofs, and in vehicles, desperation

The devastating Hurricane Katrina left Louisiana, and the rest of America, distraught. The mighty category 5 hurricane left thousands of Louisiana residents without food, water and shelter. The devastation of the storm led the levies of the flood-protecting dam to break leaving the city underwater during the catastrophe. This natural disaster will go down in American history as the worst of its kind. Although all the unfortunate natural events that made this tragedy possible, the supervision of the event was almost as bad as the hurricane itself. There are many fingers to point at the different people handling the situation but one this is clear, it was not handled properly.

Hurricane Katrina will forever remain as one of the most devastating natural disasters to have taken place on American soil. On August 27th, 2005, more than a day before Katrina made its way to New Orleans, President Bush, at the request of Louisiana state Governor Kathleen declared a state of emergency to both Louisiana and Mississippi. In doing so, these areas were considered major disaster areas that the federal government would concentrate most of its resources. Despite a declared emergency and the need to evacuate the city immediately, many residents decided to stay in their homes and shelter in place for various reasons, while others left the city as suggested or seek refuge at the state’s designated last resort shelter, The Superdome.

The largest issue that arose from the disaster was communication, be it between FEMA and local/state government or the local government and the people. While reading these interviews, a general trend arises. No one believes that the happenings of Hurricane Katrina were majorly their fault. Some claimed that they were overwhelmed but many directly pinned the miscommunications on other segments of the problem. This constant blaming of others shows that the issues were never truly resolved after the disaster. Based on the indications of the post-effect, it is very unlikely that the different groups could have communicated well during a disaster of the proportion.