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Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in US history, hitting New Orleans as a Category 3 hurricane in August 2005. The failure of the levee system caused 80% of New Orleans to flood for weeks, resulting in over 1,800 deaths and over $100 billion in property damage. The government response was criticized for being "too little, too late" and some argued the poor response was due to the race and poverty of many New Orleans residents. Hurricane Katrina highlighted deficiencies in disaster response and protection systems, ultimately leading to improvements in future preparedness.

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73 views10 pages

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in US history, hitting New Orleans as a Category 3 hurricane in August 2005. The failure of the levee system caused 80% of New Orleans to flood for weeks, resulting in over 1,800 deaths and over $100 billion in property damage. The government response was criticized for being "too little, too late" and some argued the poor response was due to the race and poverty of many New Orleans residents. Hurricane Katrina highlighted deficiencies in disaster response and protection systems, ultimately leading to improvements in future preparedness.

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HURRICANE KATRINA

Suyog Shrestha
Rachel Anders
Reagan Callaway

The New York Times: Hurricane Katrina


Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest and costliest

natural disasters in US history. The government is blamed


for inefficient levees and for responding poorly after the
Hurricane possibly due to the race and poverty of New
Orleans. The failure of the flood protection system is said
to be the biggest civil engineering failure in US history.

Whyd we choose this story?


We knew the hurricane had a huge impact on the country,

so we wanted to learn more


This summer will be the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane
Katrina
Smaller, domestic disaster similar to the Indian Ocean
tsunami in December 2004 (where 250,000 were killed)
Indirectly affected the whole country

Category 3 Hurricane
Aug. 25, 2005 hits Florida
Aug. 29 hits New Orleans
29 tide, 100mph winds

DAMAGE
Levee System Breach
- worst engineering failure in U.S. history
- 53 federally built levees breached
80% of New Orleans flooded, remains flooded
for weeks
Highway Interstate bridges destroyed
$108 billion in property damage

Victims
1,833 killed
Over 2 million without power
Over 1 million displaced
- largest diaspora in US history

Superdome
10,000 people sheltered
Crime, looting
Parts of the roof blown off with wind

Environment / Economy
Beach erosion
Closed 16 National Wildlife Refuges
Oil spills from 44 facilities

Government Response
Too little, too late
Poor defense because of race and poverty?
Had responded better to Thailand tsunami
Bush ordered 7200 Natl Guard troops, $62.2 billion
FEMA Fed. Emergency Management Agency
Delayed response didnt show up until 4-5 days after

Katrina hit New Orleans.

Why is Katrina important in US History?


Government blamed for inefficiency
Bushs reputation damaged
$108 billion in tax money for repairs
For further disasters, nation has better protection

technology
$14.5 billion in new levees that proved to be much stronger during

Hurricane Isaac.

Wake-up call to the country

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