Hurricane Katrina Case Study Flashcards
When did Hurricane Katrina take place?
August 2015
When did the storm first develop?
23rd August
Whereabouts did the storm first develop?
Over the Bahamas
When was Hurricane Katrina upgraded to a Category 4 storm?
28th August
Where was it headed on 28th August?
Mississippi and Louisiana
What category did Hurricane Katrina reach?
5
What record did it reach in regards to the Atlantic basin/
It was the 5th most intense Atlantic basin hurricane on record
What was a sustained windspeed of the hurricane?
280km/hr
What were gusts up to?
345km/hr
What was the central pressure of the hurricane?
902mb
When were advance warnings in force?
By 26th August
When and were did President Bush declare a state of emergency?
On 27th August in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.
This was two days before the hurricane was expected to make landfall.
What did authorities find difficult?
The sheer scale of the disaster.
When was New Orleans evacuated?
28th August
Where does New Orleans lie?
The Gulf Coast of the USA
Why did the original flood defences put the city at an even greater risk?
The flood control measures had resulted in the shrinkage of soils.
What did the shrinkage of soils mean for New Orleans?
Over 50% of the land was now below sea level
What was the problem with the levee system?
Much of it had not been constructed to modern standards and the replacement work was only 60-90% complete.
What happened to the levee during the storm?
The levee failed during the storm surge.
When was the evacuation plan for New Orleans drawn up?
19 hours before Katrina’s landfall
How many people didn’t evacuate New Orleans?
150,000
Why didn’t everyone evacuate?
They wanted to stay
Where did refugees seek protection?
The Louisiana Superdome
How long did the basic supplies of food and water last the 150,000 people who stayed?
3 days
How high was the Louisiana storm surge?
10m high in some places
What category was the hurricane when it hit the Louisiana and Mississippi border?
Category 3
How many people became refugees as a result of the hurricane?
Over 1 million
What percentage of evacuees stayed within 400km of their homes?
75%
What percentage of New Orleans was deluged by flood water?
80%
How many houses were in the city of New Orleans?
180,000
How many homes in New Orleans were flooded?
110,000
How many homes in New Orleans were damaged beyond repair?
55,000
How big was the disaster zone?
233,000km2
How many people were living without power?
5million
How long did it take for everyone to be reconnected to the power supply again?
Almost 2 months
How many people died in total?
1242
How many died in Louisiana?
1035
How many people died in Mississippi?
228
Why didn’t many people die in the aftermath of the storm?
The USA had the infrastructure to ensure that people had access to clean water, medical care and food supplies
What was damaged in the Gulf area?
Many oil installations (rigs and refineries)
What was an immediate effect of the damaged oil installations?
The price of oil shot up, affecting people worldwide
How much was the price of 1l of petrol in the UK as a result of the Hurricane?
£1 per litre, this was the first time that this had ever happened
Why did tourism decline?
The famous French Quarter of New Orleans was severely damaged
Why did the National Guard have to be deployed?
Looters ransacked the abandoned homes and shops
What were the National Guard’s orders?
To treat looters ruthlessly
What records did the financial cost of the storm break?
All records in the USA
What was the damage cost estimated?
$200billion
What did major insurance companies have to do?
Issue profit warnings to their shareholders
Why did the insurance companies have to issue profit warnings to their shareholders?
They had so many claims
How much money did the US Senate authorise in the first week of September?
$10.5billion
How much money was allocated by Federal funds on the 7th September?
451.8billion
How much money did the public donate to the American Red Cross?
$1.8 billion
Who was the most affected by Hurricane Katrina according to reports?
Black American urban dwellers, the poorest and most disadvantaged members of society.
Why did President Bush come under criticism?
For being slow to visit the affected area
