The Natural Disaster of Hurricane Katrina - Research Paper Example

The Natural Disaster of Hurricane Katrina The Natural Disaster of Hurricane Katrina Introduction As described by the United States metrological department, the Hurricane Katrina which occurred in the Gulf Coasts was the fifth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. In additions, Hurricane Katrina became the costliest and the most deadly hurricanes in the American history. On early morning on 29, August, 2005, the storm made a landfall at the Gulf Coasts with a rating of category 3 on Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The storm itself was a disaster to the United States, for instance, the storm brought winds that traveled at the speed of 100 to 140 miles per hour, leaving a great deal of damage, especially in the catastrophic effects of its aftermath. Among other catastrophic impacts of the Hurricane Katrina included the death toll that rose to about 1,836. Primarily, Louisiana, contributed a death toll of about 1,577, while Mississippi was 238. Moreover, more than half of the people who died because of the disastrous Hurricane Katrina were senior citizens (Torres, 2006). As the storm surge rose to approximately six meters high, about 705 people were reported to be still missing after the storm struck the destroyed the Gulf Coasts. For other areas such as New Orleans, 80 percent of the geographical area was under the water, with water rising up to 20 ft in some areas. Hurricane Katrina affected people in many different ways such as the inability of people to evacuate from ht zones, the rise of gas prices, $81 billion in property damages, unemployment in farm areas and the general fall in the US economy. Hurricane pummeled a large area of the New Orleans, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. Since the occurrence of the natural disaster, the US government has set funds for such emergencies and has joined forces with the other countries in the East by pledging some money in form of donations for assistance after the occurrence of a natural disaster (Torres, 2006). The Hurricane Katrina Before Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, there was a positive impact on the development in education, cultural and economic sectors. For instance, the teachers introduced digital directions in school curriculum and developed school systems that facilitated innovation and industrial revolution. In addition, demographers say that there was an influx of the college-educated newcomers in New Orleans and the number of people joining the university slots remained high. There was the competition for senior schools. Towards the anticipation of the Hurricane Katrina, teachers some of the teachers were making preparations to teach students during their leisure days. The congress disclosed in a report that the education system was running smoothly at the time, with and that it had given about $235 to be used in schools to educated the students. The district before the Hurricane Katrina had enough money to finance the school systems while keeping their budgets solvent (Waller, 2013). Furthermore, there was cultural diversity in the areas that were affected by Hurricane Katrina. For instance, the demographic statistics indicate that out of 484, 000 populations of people who were living in the cities, 28 percent were the whites while 67 percent comprised the African-Americans. In additional, there were cherished institutions in New Orleans that was the home to the cultural artifact and the history of the region such as The Camella Grill. Before the natural disaster, New Orleans seemed to have a sacred attachment to schools, playgrounds, churches and po-boy shops. There also low rates of violent crime because of the availability of jobs in New Orleans (The Associated Press, 2012). In the economic nature of New Orleans before the Hurricane Katrina’s menace, tourism was a major source of revenue. There was high employment rate in the region and there was steady economic growth. However, on 23th August, 2005, and at 2100 UTC, a category 1 hurricane was formed at by Tropical Depression Twelve in Bahamas. As time went by on the same day, the remains of Tropical Depression ten dissipated due to the interferences of the close upper tropospheric trough. While in the usual circumstance, the tropical depressions in the Atlantic Oceans retain the number when the depressions dissipates and regenerates, for the Hurricane Katrina, it formed a more advanced system. From the satellite view of Puerto Rico, a second tropical wave united with the Tropical Depression twelve, simultaneously weakening the upper tropospheric trough. As a result, the wing in the hurricane area was caused to shear, creating a room for the formation of a new tropical depression. In a later re-analysis, the procedure for keeping the new number of the tropical depression was lost since the low-level circulation ten had been completely dissipated and detached (Ahrens, 2014). On 24th, August, 2005, the tropical twelve developed into Tropical Storm Katrina. On 25th, August, 2005, the Katrina storm upgraded to C1 storm, and two hours before reaching the Keating beach, the storm had already changed into hurricane status. During its passage, inside the eye of the hurricane, the wind moved at a speed of 145 km/hr while maintain a pressure of 989 mbar. The hurricane maintained a wind gust of 165km/hr which was recorded at Homestead General Aviation Airport. According to the metrological report, Katrina lasted for six hours until it reached the water-laden Everglades. Katrina lost its strength before reaching the Gulf of Mexico, in particular, just at the north of Cape Sable. On 26th, August, 2005, Hurricane Katrina downgraded to a tropical storm, moving at a speed of 75Km/h while the eye of the Hurricane Katrina was located at the southeastern shore of Florida. On 27th, August, 2005, Hurricane Katrina reached an intensity of category 3. On 28th, August, 2005, just before midnight, Hurricane Katrina had reached intensity of category 4 with 145 mph winds. There were fluctuations in the intensity of Hurricane Katrina that caused a lot of damages to the shores of Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and New Orleans. On the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on 31st, August, 2005, Hurricane Katrina downgraded to a tropical depression, majority of mainlines had been destroyed, tress had fallen, train track remained out of service because of washout, while New Orleans’ land continued to submerge in floods (Ahrens, 2014). Despite majority of the areas in New Orleans were under ruins just after Hurricane Katrina had struck, other institutions were in a kind of a metaphysic limbo. Except St. Henry, majority of institutions in New Orleans had been wiped out from the map. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many people acted heroic. For example, the Coast Guard was able to rescue about 44,000 people who had been abandoned in New Orleans. People lacked access to basic social amenities such as shelter, clothing, food and medicine. Nevertheless, the local people commandeered boats and other basic necessities in an effort to help their neighbors. Majority of homes and businesses had been destroyed and people were forced to live in refugee camps. The US government was unprepared to deal with the disaster. After the disastrous hurricane, most industries were and business centers were closed since there the premises had been destroyed, as well as the infrastructural facilities such as the roads and the communication lines. Hurricane Katrina had devastating effects on the US economy. For instance, the government lost $81 billion in property damages, while it was estimated the total impact on Louisiana and Mississippi was $150 billion, leading to the costliest damaged incurred in the history of the United States (Tarshis, 2011). However, after ten years, New Orleans has been able to restore some of its physical touchstones including the Camella Grill. There has been influx of new populations in areas that were previously affected and as the economists have projected, the hit areas are on the verge of economic expansion being stimulated by the hotel industry and tourism (Donze, 2010). Conclusion As steps to over the negative impacts of the natural disaster, more than 70 countries all over the world have pledged monetary donations for help any country that may suffer from the natural disasters. In addition, the Army Corps of Engineers have upgraded the city’s defence systems by reinforcing the city’s levee systems. The aim of the defense system is to protect the cities against such storms of category 3. The city planning agencies have also introduced Road Home elevation grants for helping the homeowners to build their houses after such a natural disaster occurs (Alpert, 2015). References Ahrens, C.D. (2014). Essentials of meteorology: An invitation to the atmosphere. Natorp Boulevard: Cengage Learning. Alpert, B. (2015). Sen. Vitter and Rep. Richmond request HUD flexibility on Road Home hurricane grants. The Times-Picayune. Retrieved from: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/02/sen_vitter_and_rep_richmond_re.html#incart_river Donze, F. (2010). Hurricane Katrina swept away some of New Orleans cultural touchstones. The Times-Picayune. Retrieved from: http://www.nola.com/katrina/index.ssf/2010/08/hurricane_katrina_swept_away_s_1.html Tarshis, L. (2011). I survived #3: I survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc The Associated Press. (2012). New Orleans since Katrina: Before and after. Blackvoices. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/new-orleans-since-katrina_n_1834696.html Torres, J.A. (2006). Hurricane Katrina, 2005. California: Mitchell Lane Publishers, Inc Waller, M. (2013). Hurricane Katrina eight years later, a statistical snapshot of the New Orleans area. The Times-Picayune. 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