Case Study-Hurricane Katrina Flashcards
Location of formation
South east Bahamas
Peak wind speed
175 mph
Lowest pressure
902 mb
Landfall (2nd)
Bay St Louis 29th August 2005
Storm surge (height)
6 meters
Levee failures
50 seperate failures
Deaths X2
1200 drowned
1800 total
Homeless
1 million people (85% of the population of New Orleans)
Oil rigs
44 damaged increasing prices, 9 had to be closed
Oil spilled
26 million litres
Cost of repairs
105 billion dollars
Total economic impact
150 billion dollars
Jobs at risk
1 million
Forest lost
1.3 million acres
Land permanently flooded
200 square miles including the breeding grounds of brown pelicans and turtles
Insurance
Huge premiums or companies refuse to ensure you
Contamination of flood water
Water pumped from New Orleans contained raw sewage, heavy metals and toxic chemicals raising fears for marine life
Redistribution of people
Houston had a 35,000 person increase in population
January 2006 New Orleans population
Only 200,000 less than half pre storm levels
Monitoring
National hurricane centre Florida
FEMA
Coordinated response but not very effective, plans for evacuation of those who couldn’t escape on their own failed
Evacuation
28th August 9:30 Mandatory evacuation order for New Orleans
Super Dome
Designed to withstand 250 mph winds
Designed to house 800 but housed 30,000
Poor sanitation
Aid
Congress pledged 60 billion dollars
Kuwait was next biggest donor with 500 million dollars
Date
August 2005
