Learning goalsKnowledgeTo know the causes of Hurricane Katrina and to knowwhat happened in the aftermathUnderstandingTo understand the effects on New Orleans of thishurricaneSkillsEmpathyHurricane tracking
Hurricane KatrinaIn August 2005 the citizens of New Orleans and the surroundingarea were led to believe that Hurricane Katrina, which wascoming their way fast, would be ‘the big one’.
Tropical storms andhurricanes usually beginas a ‘wave’ on theAfrican side of theAtlantic. Katrinadeveloped as a tropicaldepression, approachingthe southern tip ofFlorida from the southeast during late August2005.Katrina’s development
Having enlarged into atropical storm it made its firstlandfall at 6.30 pm local timebetween Hallandale Beach andAventura just to the south ofFort Lauderdale in Florida.Although it did not experiencea smooth rise instrength, Katrina movedthrough levels 1–5 on theSaffir-Simpson scale as itcurved across the Gulf ofMexico towards the Louisianacoastline around New Orleans.Katrina’s development
After crossing southern Florida - where it left some100,000 homes without power – it strengthened furtherbefore veering inland towards Louisiana, eventuallymaking landfall 90km south of New Orleans, at 10amlocal time on 29 August 2005.Animation features in hyperlink
It was the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recordedand the third-strongest landfalling U.S. hurricane on record.The track ofthe hurricane23rd to 29thAugust 2005
The stormpassed directlythrough NewOrleans, destroying many lighterbuildings andcausingextensivedamage toothers.At this point, Katrinas sustained wind speed wasapproximately 200 km/h.
Track and windspeedsHurricane forcewinds wererecorded along an200km stretch ofcoastline, withscenes of similardestruction andflooding inAlabama,Mississippi andLouisiana.
The intense LOWPRESSURE andstrong winds… allows sea levelto rise… Flooding coastalareas severalkilometres inlandin some placesStorm Surge
Initially it was hoped that New Orleans hadweathered the worst of Katrina, but within hours ofthe storm passing, it emerged that several key leveeshad been breached …..… causingfloodwater topour into thelow-lying city.ANIMATION
Much of New Orleans lies below sea level. The cityhas a system of canals and levees topped withconcrete floodwalls to keep water out. These aredesigned to withstand a category threehurricane, but when Katrina - a category four storm- hit, they were quickly overwhelmed.Within 24 hours, 80% of the city was flooded
By August31, 2005, 80% ofthe city wasflooded, with someparts under 6.1metres of water.Four of the citysprotective leveeswerebreached, includingthe 17th StreetCanal levee, theIndustrial Canallevee, and theLondon AvenueMississippi DeltaLevees broken and landfloodedEspecially around NewOrleans city
Flooding affectedlarge parts of thepoor areas of thecityThe situation quicklydeteriorated as it becameapparent that thousands ofpeople had been unable toevacuate or chosen to stayput.
Many took refuge in the citysSuperdome, but withoutsanitation or propersupplies, conditions inside thecrowded, overheated stadium ......becameincreasinglyunbearable
… Law and order across thecity broke down, withreports of widespreadlooting and violence.7,000 active-duty troops weresent to Louisiana for additionalhurricane relief. Despite hopes allwould be evacuated on Friday,some New Orleans flood victimsremained at the Superdome.Security forces struggled to restoreorder, and engineers worked tirelessly todrain the city.
On 2 September aseries of huge blasts,apparently at a chemicalplant near the FrenchQuarter, rocked thecity.Large fires also broke out inseveral other districts.
Although morethan 80% ofresidentsevacuated, therest remainedThere was blistering criticism from the mayor of New Orleansand others who said the federal (US) government (GeorgeBush) had bungled the relief effort and let people die in thestreets for lack of food, water or medicine.
Enormous social, environmental and economiceffects.Lowest pressure: 902 mbarDamages: $81.2 billion (2005 USD) (costliest Atlantichurricane in history)Fatalities: ≥1,723 total
By August 2006–one yearon, the cityslevees andfloodwalls hadbeen repairedto a standardequalling theirprior condition.Despite this work, critics say not enough has yet been done toimprove the citys storm protection system.Repairing the levees
Helicopters droppedhuge sandbags intothe breach in the17th street canal.Earthmovers built acauseway allowingtrucks to bring instones to strengthenthe repairs.Repairing the breach:
A temporary steelbarrier was builtat the mouth ofthe canal, sealingit off from LakePontchartrain.Steel dam:
Once allbreaches aresealed, pumpsstarted to drainfloodwater outinto the lake, aprocess whichtook over 80days.Pumping out:
One year on and still New Orleans was eerilyempty.Of a pre-Katrina population of half-a-million fewerthan 200,000 had returned.
About $1bn (£542m) in relief meant forvictims of Hurricane Katrina was lost tofraud, with bogus claimants spending themoney on Hawaiian holidays, footballtickets, diamond jewellery and Girls GoneWild porn videos!Fraud
The aftermathThe broken levees were repaired by engineers and the flood waterin the streets of New Orleans took several months to drain away.The broken levees and consequent flooding were largely responsiblefor most of the deaths in New Orleans.One of the first challenges in the aftermath of the flooding was torepair the broken levees. Vast quantities of materials, such assandbags, were airlifted in by the army and air force and the leveeswere eventually repaired and strengthened.Although the USA is one of the wealthiest developedcountries in the world, it highlighted that when adisaster is large enough, even very developedcountries struggle to cope.