Natural Hazards (Case Study) Hurricane Katrina Flashcards
When and where did the storm form and then hit land?
It hit the south east USA in 2005, after forming over the Bahamas on the 23rd August.
What path did the storm take and where specifically in the USA did it hit?
It moved north west and strengthened as it passed over the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico. By the time it struck Louisiana and Mississippi on the 29th August, it was a Category 3 hurricane.
What were the key characteristics of the tropical storm?
It brought winds of around 200 km/h and 200-250 mm rainfall to Louisiana, and a storm surge of up to 8.5m in Mississippi.
What other areas were also affected by the hurricane?
South Florida and Cuba were also affected. The storm surge and heavy rainfall overwhelmed levees around New Orleans, causing over 80% of the city to flood.
What were the social impacts of Hurricane Katrina?
1836 people were killed.
300,000 houses were destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless and 3 million people were left without electricity.
One of the main routes out of New Orleans was blocked because part of the I-10 bridge collapsed.
Water supplies were polluted with sewage and chemicals. Five people died from using contaminated water.
18 schools in New Orleans were destroyed and 74 were badly damaged.
What were the economic impacts of the storm?
230,000 jobs were lost from damaged businesses.
Industry was disrupted, 30 oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were damaged or destroyed, disrupting the oil industry. Ports such as Gulfport in Mississippi were damaged affecting the shipping industry.
5300 km^2 of forest was destroyed in Mississippi, causing around $5 billion lost income from logging.
The total cost of damage was around $300 billion.
What were the environmental impacts of the tropical storm?
Coastal habitats such as sea turtle breeding beaches were damaged.
Some coastal conservation areas were destroyed , e.g. Breton National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana.
Flooding damaged oil refineries in Louisiana, causing massive oil spills.
Why did the USA respond so rapidly?
The USA has a sophisticated monitoring system to predict if and where a hurricane will hit. On August 26th the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Florida issued a hurricane warning for Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. It continued to track the hurricane, updating the government on where and when it would hit.
Which organisations were able to prepare due to the effective warning systems?
The US Coast Guard positioned helicopters and boats around the area likely to be affected.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) organised teams and supplies, e.g. mortuary teams with refrigerated trucks to deal with bodies.
How did New Orleans respond?
New Orleans ordered mandatory evacuation. It’s estimated that around 80% of New Orleans’ residents were evacuated before the hurricane reached land.
What responses continued during and after the hurricane had passed?
Emergency shelters were set up for people who hadn’t evacuated, e.g. the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans sheltered 26,000 people during the hurricane.
The coastguard, police, fire service and army rescued over 50,000 people after the hurricane hit.
Charities collected over $4 billion of donations to provide aid to victims.
