the Effects of Hurricane Katrina
Imagine being in your house on a gloomy thunderstorm day just waiting for a hurricane to come swipe everything away. How would you feel to have all your belongings flushed away under more than 20 feet of water? What are you suppose to do in this situation? Think about your baby brother, he doesn’t understand what is going on.
How is he supposed to survive, for some people August 29th, 2005 was the last time they ever saw their baby brother. How crazy is it that in a matter of minutes everything you have is gone! Hurricane Katrina had created mass destruction, many deaths and lots of anger towards the government. First off, Hurricanes cause lots of damage. If anyone knows a hurricane is coming their way, they are going to escape right away. Some hurricanes get their start in the Atlantic Ocean. They start when the pressure of water, wind and air are perfect.
Hurricanes are ranged from Category 1 to Category 5, 5 being the most dangerous. On August 29, 2005 New Orleans was destroyed the most along with its neighbors Mississippi and Alabama. Hurricane Katrina was ranked as a category 3 storm. Katrina left more than 3 million people without power due to the 145 mile-an-hour winds (“Hurricane Katrina”).The winds were strong enough to wipe out millions of power lines.
It would be days, maybe even weeks before families get power back. Katrina is known as one of the worst natural disasters of all time. When Katrina was at its peak it produced about an inch of rain per hour leaving some areas under twenty feet of water (“Causes & Effects of Hurricane Katrina”). There go all the belongings, hard earned earnings, and life savings floating down the street. Who is to blame? Is Global Warming the reason behind Katrina? Some scientists believe that because hurricanes need heated water from the Atlantic Ocean to form, that global warming could be the main factor of this disaster.
It is obvious that Hurricane Katrina caused total destruction to the towns in the southwest region. Katrina created massive amounts of flooding in New Orleans. The flood protection system in New Orleans was flawed from the beginning because the levees were destroyed with the big gusts of wind and rain (“Hurricane Katrina”). The levees weren’t designed good enough to prevent the rain from entering the city. Due to this, Katrina left many section of the city submerged in water. Houses were completely destroyed; no one had any where to go.
The Louisiana Superdome had a relief site for more than 30,000 people, originally designed to serve only 800(“Hurricane Katrina: What did the Government do?”). Some parts of the roof were blown off. This place did not have the proper requirements to hold all these people therefore had to seek for help. During this time tourism was on a decline. Mardi Gras is a time of festivity and to celebrate with the family.
There are always many parades, carnivals and many people dressed in costumes. Many people did not want to celebrate because of all the deaths but they celebrated just to know that their city remains alive. Unfortunately many people were injured causing families to tear apart. Some parents had no way of figuring out where their children were. According to the article “The New York Times” there was more than 1,700 people were killed and hundreds of thousands of others displaced (“Hurricane Katrina”).
1,700 people just gone! Imagine having to dying in a hurricane, it’s a shame. These people could not do anything; they fought for their lives to survive. Displaced meaning nowhere to be found! These people must have floated away, drowned, or ended up injured somewhere around town. People did not know where to go; things were not going to get any better from here. Many families went to the Superdome, but others left to different cities and even other states.
More than one million people evacuated their homes (“Causes & Effects of Hurricanes”). Why would anyone want to stay where the whole town just got destroyed! Hurricane Katrina created lots of anger towards the government. Mainly because people were not prepared for the hurricane so they were relying on the help of the local government. The local government is responsible for responding to disasters. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is a company designed to help out the people. According to a report “Hurricane Katrina:A nation still unprepared”, states that Katrina’s emergency systems were going to fail (“Hurricane Katrina:What Did the Government Do?”).
FEMA and the federal government were not prepared to handle the storm. FEMA provided house relief and food for thousands of people. FEMA paid hotel bills for more than 700,000 people (“Hurricane Katrina:What Did the Government Do?”). This was a great thing for families who have lost their homes. They get a chance to sleep somewhere nice for a few nights.
They gave trailers for some families, they were lucky to get that. Unfortunately not everyone got helped. More than 35,000 people were rescued by the Coast Guard. This devastation created million dollars of damage. The Government was held liable for all the flooding damage in New Orleans.
Katrina has changed the lives of thousands of people. Many loved ones were lost, lots of destruction and as much help as possible from FEMA. Millions of dollars have been spent to try to repair all the damage. Till this day many families are still affected by Katrina.New Orleans is still being restored. People believe things will never be the same.
There are charities that continue to aid the victims of Katrina.
