Melissa Polansky Environmental Paper Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. Katrina was a Category 3 rating on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale–bringing sustained winds of 100–140 miles per hour–and stretched as far as 400 miles. Many people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were left without homes. Meteorologists were able to give warning the day before Katrina hit, and the evacuation process for the high risk locations were put in place. (www.history.com) New Orleans was one of the most at risk. Its average elevation is about six feet below …show more content…
www.history.com) University of North Texas Professor Bernard Weinstein estimated that Katrina cost $250 billion. Including both the damage and its impact on the economy. He estimated uninsured losses at $215 billion, and insured losses at $35 billion. Because the worst flooding occurred in New Orleans ' 9th Ward. It was a low-income area that was mostly uninsured. (Source: "UNT Experts Discuss Hurricane Katrina 's Third Anniversary," UNT News, August 28, 2008.) During the aftermath of Katrina, the main concern on health was the amount of water left behind. Outbreaks of West Nile, mold, and endotoxin levels rising were of great concern. New types of bacteria from the open water, leaving New Orleans with little to defense. The medical centers were either destroyed or in utter disarray and power was lost for quite a while. Not only was the amount of people displaced from their homes great but, the concern that people were going to get sick because of contaminated food or water also weighed heavily on people 's minds. All of the health concerns for New Orleans came from the amount of flood water because there was so much of it that it was an optimal breeding ground for mosquitoes and the water covered everything making nothing truly safe. …show more content…
According to the Washington Post, emergency plans at all levels of government -- including the 600-page National Response Plan that set forth the Federal government 's plan to coordinate all its departments and agencies and integrate them with State, local, and private sector partners -- were put to the test and came up short.
What was Hurricane Katrina? Hurricane Katrina was the largest and 3rd strongest hurricane ever recorded to make landfall in the United States. Katrina first made landfall on August 29, 2005 and struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. Hurricane Katrina was first announced as a Category 3 hurricane and with time it soon grew into a Category 5 hurricane.
In the book A.D New Orleans After The Deluge, By Josh Neufeld is about Hurricane Katrina and how it affected the people of New Orleans. This book was about real people that escaped and lived through the storm. Most people lost everything including their houses, all personal belongings, and jobs. As I was reading the book was shocked that in the beginning most of the characters were not worried about the storm they just wanted to wait it out. No one was expecting such a big storm and thought it would turn east like they normally did.
Additionally, scientists had been warning New Orleans and the government that climate change would lead to increased storm activity and that the city’s defenses weren’t strong enough for such a storm. However, these warnings were ignored by the government and no preventative measures were taken which has influenced the effects of the storm. The reason for the poor response of the government and their negligence of the warnings is arguable. However, it is positive that the reason for this is that the majority of the people affected were the poor, and mostly colored, citizen of New Orleans. The city is racially and economically segregated and these citizen lived in the lower parts of the city, which go down to 11 feet below sea level.
The terrorist attacks on September 11 2001 were a sad day for our nation, yet it showed the vulnerabilities in the Americans emergency management system. President Jimmy Carter made a good effort with the creation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), but as 9/11 proved FEMA was not equipped to management terrorist threats. The nation needed something fay beyond what FEMA could offer, which lead to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Historically, major disasters have always prompt change in the American culture take for example the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Although storms like Hurricane Katrina occur once in every one hundred years, being prepared and storing water, food, medicines, and other supplies keep families ready for any disaster. Natural disasters can leave communities without power for days and even for weeks. Being prepared in the event of severe weather and disasters like Hurricane Katrina, can reduce fear and anxiety that accompanies disasters. A crucial element of self-sufficient living is survival. Our government does not have all the resources to be totally prepared to take care of the vast numbers of people in a disaster.
However there was additional devastation and neglect to be found in the rescue of the citizens of New Orleans. The Un Human Rights Committee issued a report in 2006 that showed how our Government failed to make sure plans were in place to ensure that the black citizens of New Orleans were included in a plan to make sure they had adequate housing and healthcare available after the disaster. Not only were blacks affected, but people in the handicap group were also. New Orleans and the surrounding areas in the gulf coast region had plenty of warning, but yet there were numerous lives lost and more devastation with the people themselves than the property that could not have been saved. This toll does not include the losses suffered by those who are handicapped and depend on aids, such as service dogs, wheelchairs and the likes they need for everyday survival.
The top risk in my community is flooding. When there is heavy rain in an approximate two-hour period the streets flood, because the canal near my home overflows with rain water. The evacuation route out of Algiers, New Orleans would be US 90 east or west, depending on the direction of the storm. Since, hurricane Katrina and the events at the New Orleans Superdome and Convention Center, the city no longer offer shelter before an approaching storm. The city does offer what is called city-assisted evacuation.
It struck with winds up to 140 mph. Although the hurricane created substantial damage, the aftermath had fatal consequences. The levees that were supposed to withhold a Category 3 hurricane in turn failed and about 50 breaches were created. The 50 breaches were the result of failed construction, neglect of upkeep. The City of New Orleans local & federal legislation should supply the money in order to secure the well being of the city.
Following the tragic event, the Water and Sewage Board in New Orleans ordered taller levees to be constructed. Hurricane Betsy in 1965 caused leaders to redesign the levee system and the responsibility of levee construction was placed under the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Once again citizens of New Orleans started to reconstruct their city after another natural disaster. Only forty years later Hurricane Katrina, the unfortunate event that was due to the failure of levees to withhold water, left many homeless, dead and looting for survival. Not only did the levees fail the people of New Orleans, but their government also fell short of supplying the desperate citizens of the city with aid and support.
In the book, The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast author Douglas Brinkley takes you on a journey through the political corruption and under calculation of the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina’s effects. He starts off the essay with his own personal account of the damage that Hurricane Katrina left. From there he moves into stories of other people from Louisiana and their evacuation stories. These stories ranged from animal shelters from multiple days prior, to stories about people who were just planning to wait it out.
It was the 3rd strongest hurricane recorded to make landfall in the United States. Hurricane Katrina peaked at a Category 5 hurricane with winds up to 175 mph. The death toll was around 1,836, most being from Louisiana and Mississippi. The storm surge from Hurricane Katrina was 20 feet high. About 80% of New Orleans was under water during Hurricane Katrina.
The amount of property that was damaged by hurricane Harvey was vast. Strong winds are what people think of when they think of a hurricane. The winds from Harvey were said to have reached 130 mph. That was enough for it to be classified as a category 4 storm. The strong winds spread debris across the land scape of Texas as it ripped through the structures destroying anything in its direct path.
Current Reflective Essay Paper On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the coast of Texas. It was originally set to be a category 1 hurricane and wasn 't supposed to be that bad of a natural disaster. Although a number of adding factors made Hurricane Harvey a catastrophic event, the hurricane increased levels as it reached land which was one of the biggest impacts. The main two factors that made Harvey one of the most destructive natural disasters to ever hit the United States was all the recorder rainfall over the city of Houston and the release of the Addicks and Barker reservoirs.
What was even worse was it had rained for 4 days in a row even before the hurricane had hit. Since it had rained the ground was full of water so it wouldn 't help at all with
Ultimately, the entire government failed the people affected by Hurricane Katrina and are still handling the terrible situation to this day. Had the captivation and focus not been so hard on terrorism, I believe that