Hurricane Katrina

In late August 2005, one of the costliest natural disasters occurred. Hurricane Katrina, a category 3 hurricane as it hit the land, devastated the city of New Orleans and many other low lying towns. The storm claimed more than 1800 lives and more importantly, it exposed a series of problems in the federal government about the response to the hurricane. They were shown to lack preparedness and have difficulties in search and rescue efforts. The storm mainly affected the lower-income African American citizens because the flood following the storm came through and destroyed many low-lying parts of the city.


Because New Orleans was a city that was below sea level, they were spared the intense and torrential winds of the storm but another threat was imminent. The levee system the city had was overwhelmed and many areas of the city flooded. Levees were essentially walls that prevent waterways from overflowing and flooding. A report by the Corps released in 2006 concluded that insufficient funding, information, and poor construction had left the flood system vulnerable to failure. As the city's levee system continued to be overwhelmed, it went from being 20% flooded to being 80% flooded, with many civilians being rescued from rooftops of houses and buildings. Storm surges from the hurricane went as high as 19 feet. Lots of people who did not flee the city sought shelter under the damaged Superdome. The Superdome soon became a public health hazard because of food and water shortages and the lack of basic sanitation.

These issues showed that the government was not prepared at all for and 10 years later, Obama said, "What started out as a natural disaster became a man-made disaster—a failure of government to look out for its own citizens." 4 days after the storm, the government gave 10 billion dollars to help with the relief but even then, they were still criticized by the world. The aftermath of the storm was devastating as well. Oil and gas industries were crippled and coastal places that relied on tourism also suffered because of loss of infrastructure and business and coastal erosion. Ultimately, the storm caused more than $160 billion in damage, and the population of New Orleans fell by 29 percent between the fall of 2005 and 2011. By 2018, New Orleans completed its hurricane defense systems which cost 14.6 billion dollars.

Sources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/reference/hurricane-katrina/#close
https://www.britannica.com/event/Hurricane-Katrina