Hurricane Katrina amna notes

date + context

2005 23-31 august
Atlantic ocean —→ florida

New Orleans was worst affected as it was below sea level

costliest hurricane

city built on river delta of mississippi river

very wet area

geographical processes

category 5

winds upto 175 pmh

began as a low pressure system over the atlantic ocean —- got stronger at gulf of mexico + moved west

august - warm temps of ocean = ideal conditions to develop into category 5

storm surges over 6m height => highest recorded in usa

Impacts : social

1/2 mill homeless

3 mill people w/o electricity

150,000 homes destroyed between 2005-6

1,800 drowned by floods

80% of new orleans flooded

Impacts: economic

$125 billion worth of damages

transport affected

tourism decreased

cotton & sugar cane crops destroyed

the bush administration sought $105 billion for repairs and reconstruction

$5 billion worht forest land destroyed

impacts: economic —> Gentilly

Gentilly district was flooded to depth of 3m

• property value impacted by $230k

• these properties = low income families = tend to be african americans

• uptown = 4m higehr so no flooding

• higher value properties here can only be afforded by higher earnign caucasian families = $400,000

uptown vs downtown

gentilly = diverse, middle-class. sense of community-driven recovery and self reliance.

uptown = known for wealth + historic significance. residents more access to resources + political connections = quicker recovery.

impacts: environmental

beach erosion

trees lost

oil spills from 44 facilities - 7 million US gallons

80% of new orleans flooded as man made levees overwhelmed by extra water

impacts: political

president ordered a national state of emergency

criticism to authorities for handling disaster badly => many were evacuated but process was slow and poorest/ most vulnerable left behind

political CHANGE

pre hurricane = orleans parish = 67% black

after = 59%

racism exacerbated as many of victims were black african americans

kanye west claimed race was the reason behind slow aid + the fact that most people stranded were african american

immediate responses

• superdome stadium was set up as a centre

• 365 american red cross shelters = held 107k + evacuees (tip to remember - same number of days in a year)

• 249 emergency red cross vehicles

• $50 billion in aid

• UK sent food aid

• national guard deployed

long term responses

• 220 miles of floodwalls and levees were strengthened to reduce future flood risk

• congress provided total over $50 billion to help rebuild homes/vital infastructure

• all oil/gas facilities rebuilt

• took 6 months ot remove water from gentilly

conflict

looting occured

criticism of shelter

• Thefts and rapes were reported

• at least one person attempted suicide.

• 100 mph winds ripped part of the Superdome roof away.

• no electricity, water or functioning toilets or washing facilities.

• referred to it as ‘chaos’, ‘devastation’, and ‘the most frightening experience of my life.’

how did hurricane George 1998 affect katrina

THIS CARD IS CHATGPT COS COULDN’T FIND ANYTHING - MIGHT NOT BE TRUE

• set a precedent : over 1.5 mill evacuated by HG - disorderly and chaotic - distrust of future evacuation orders

• memory of ‘unnecessary’ evacuation during HG contributed to delayed response of residents during HK despite mandatory evacuations issued

• 100,000 remained in new orleans during HK