Hurricane Katrina 2005

When was the hurricane katrina formed over the bahamas?

- 23rd August 2005

How did it move initially?

- Formed as a tropical depression 23rd august 2005

- moved over florida as a cat 1 on 25th

- Passed through the gulf of mexico, and gained power, becoming a cat 5 tropical storm

- Moved towards New Orleans on 29th august as a cat 3

Features of Hurricane Katrina

- Wind speeds up to 120mph

- 400 miles wide

- 25 miles wide eye

Risk and vulnerability of local population

- Low income african american families lived in the low lying areas of New Orleans

- Many of these low income families did not have home insurance, meaning there was no return to New orleans after this disaster

- Lack of finances in the area means less resources for recovery and preparation in general

Preparedness of population

- High poverty rates meant many didnt have a car and couldnt evacuate. Led to many people remaning in their homes or evacuating to the superdome.

- Levees had been built but were old and not reinforced, leaving 50 of them to break contributing to the flooding

- Superdome was used as a shelter but was overcrowded (30,000) and unhygienic

Primary effects of hurricane katrina

- 1,834 people died, 1,200 of which drowned

- over 150,000 homes destroyed or damaged to the point they had to be demolished

- Electricity supplies gone for 3 million people

- 80% of New Orleans flooded , some areas were up to 4.5 meters underwater

- Coastal habitats were damaged by the storm surge (coastal erosion)

Secondary effects of hurricane katrina

- Population of new orleans decreased by 25%

- 2,400 businesses went bankrupt or closed in 2005/2006

- Hundreds of thousands made homeless

- Sewage overflowed into water supplies

- Total damages of $125 Bn

- Damage to oil rigs drove up the price of oil in USA and UK

- Looting broke out

Immediate responses

- Mayor of New Orleans ordered evacuation on 28/08, 150,000 ignored this

- $62 bn granted by the senate for recovery in september

- $1.8 Bn donated to red cross from the public

-National Guard deployed to stop the looting

- US army corps deployed to pump water out of low lying areas

Long term responses

- Red Cross developed 'safe and well' software so families could reunite

- Public criticism of Bush and his lack of care for the people of new orleans, leading to him not being re elected

- President of FEMA stepped down after the disaster