Remembering the Devastation of Hurricane Katrina

Written by Jack Crago

Hurricane Katrina, the category 5 cyclone that caused $125 Billion in damages and killed thousands on August 23rd 2005. First making landfall on the coast of Florida, near Miami as only a category 1. It originated from the Southeast Bahamas as a merely tropical storm, then became a category 3 when it hit Miami, then as it moved to the gulf of Mexico it escalated to a category 5.

It then hit New Orleans, Louisiana causing billions in damages and killing over 1400.  Also causing around 7500 non fatal injuries

New Orleans was the main place affected by Hurricane Katrina, flooding about 80% of the city and causing the majority of the citizens to evacuate. But many refused, approximately 150-200 thousand people did not. Sadly, most if not all of the deaths caused by the hurricane were of the citizens who chose to stay. 

New Orleans flooded by hurricane Katrina, August 30th 2005 

Many of those who stayed did undergo the procedure called Vertical evacuation. Which essentially means they fled up to the top of high sturdy buildings to avoid flooding. The main place people took refuge in, with around 27 thousand people was the Superdome, a large sports stadium.

But it wasn't as helpful as it seemed, they didn’t give the food they promised; survivor Shelton Alexander says “They promised us food and that was a false promise- they never gave it to us and it just went to hell from there.”

 The aftermath, after over 80% of the city was submerged, the displacement of over a million people, and the deaths of over 1400 people- it was deemed the costliest natural disaster in U.S history.

After the hurricane cleared there were also many crimes committed, such as raiding establishments, and looting. By September 1st, 6500 national guard troops had arrived in New Orleans, and on September 2nd Blanco requested a total of 40,000 for assistance in evacuation and security efforts in Louisiana. But most of the roads were flooded and blocked by the storm, delaying the assistance by a bit, making the recovery process even more difficult: Even now New Orleans still hasn't fully recovered, and are facing problems about poverty, and housing problems.