Hurricane Katrina Flashcards
where and when was hurricane Katrina?
Southern USA 2005 August
where did the hurricane develop and when?
developed over the Bahamas on the 23rd August
upgraded and name Katrina the next day
when did it become a category 4 and where was it heading?
28th August became a category 4 and became clear it was heading for coast of Mississippi and Louisiana
when did it become a category 5?
28th August same day it became category 4
when were advanced warnings given?
on the 26th August for possible ‘unprecedented cataclysm’
when was it declared a state of Emergency?
27th August president Bush declared state of emergency in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi two days before hurricane expected to make landfall
What did the major of New Orleans announce and when?
ordered the city to be evacuated after it reached a category 5 on 28th August
where is New Orleans? what does this mean?
on the Gulf coast of the USA so it can expect tropical storms some parts of the year
what was the problem with the levee system?
had not been built to modern standards and replacement work was only 60-90% complete
what had original flood control measures resulted in?
resulted in shrinking of soils so over 50% of land is now under sea level
what caused the levee system to fail?
a storm surge
how many people remained in New Orleans by choice? and how did most people leave?
150,000
left in private cars, school buses
what were refugees ‘left behind’ encouraged to do?
seek protection in the massive Louisiana superdome
what was delivered to the 150,000 people and for how long?
food and water for three days
when did Katrina hit Louisiana and what followed?
29th August and accompanied by storm surge
how many people displaced?
over 1 million
and tens of thousands located 1,000km away
how much of New Orleans floded?
80%
110,000 houses flooded
what supplies disrupted?
water and power supplies and took almost 5 months to reconnect
how many died?
1,242
After the event were there many deaths and why?
afterwards there were little deaths as USA had infrastructure to ensure people had access to clean fresh water, medical care and food supplies
What happened to petrol price in UK and why?
petrol price within the UK shot up as oil rigs and refineries were damaged on the Gulf area so oil price went up
what area of New Orleans was damaging tourism?
the french quarter was damaged so reduced the amounts of tourism
why was there national guard deployment?
due to looters ransacking homes and shops
what was the financial cost of the storm?
$200 billion
how were businesses affected?
insurance companies issued profit warnings to shareholders
how much did the public donate and to who?
$1.8 billion to the American red cross (more than amounts raised for boxing day tsunami)
what was Bush criticised for?
visiting the area late
why was search and rescue programme criticised?
as people said response would have been different for white people within America
what did the US senate do?
authorised a bill assigning $10.5 billion in aid during first week of September
how much was allocated from federal funds?
$51.8 billion
