Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Formed
August 23, 2005
Dissipated August 31, 2005
Highest
winds
175 mph (280 km/h) (1minute sustained)
Lowest
pressure
902 mbar (hPa; 26.6 inHg)
Damage
$81.2 billion (2005 USD)
$84 billion (2006 USD) (costliest
Atlantic hurricane in history)
Fatalities
≥1,833 total
Areas
affected
Bahamas, South Florida, Cuba,
Louisiana (especially Greater New
Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama,
Florida Panhandle, most of
eastern North America
Where and when
Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005.
Crossed southern Florida as a moderate Category 1 hurricane.
Affected north-central Gulf Coast of the United States.
Cities of New Orleans, Louisiana, and in coastal Mississippi.
Due to its sheer size, Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast as far as 100 miles (160 km) from the storm's
center.
Made final landfall in Louisanna/Misssippi on August 29 th.
Effects
Flooding
Storm surges.
Broke levees along Mississipi River,
Sewage poured into rivers and the sea causing a health hazard and resulting in death of wildlife.
The hurricane left an estimated three million people without electricity
Deaths by state
Alabama 2
Florida 14
Georgia 2
Kentucky 1
Louisiana 1, 577
Mississippi 238 Ohio 2
Total 1,836
The storm is estimated to have been responsible for $81.2 billion (2005 U.S. dollars) in damage.
Criticism of the federal, state and local governments' reaction to the storm was widespread.
Looting and violence
Many looters were in search of food and water that were not available to them through any other
means.
Managing the Hurricane
Florida – hurricane warnings were first issued 31 hours before landfall and then 20 hours before landfall.
The Florida Governor Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency on August 24 in advance of Katrina's
landfall in Florida. Shelters were opened and schools closed in several counties in the southern part of
the state. A number of evacuation orders were also issued, mostly voluntary,
Gulf Coast
On August 26, the state of Mississippi activated its National Guard.
Local governments began issuing evacuation orders which resulted in 61 cities being ordered to
evacuate. 57 emergency shelters were established on coastal communities, with 31 additional
shelters available to open if needed.
However, many private care-taking facilities (e.g. old people’s homes and hospitals) that relied on bus
companies and ambulance services for evacuation were unable to evacuate people.
Fuel and rental cars were in short supply and many forms of public transportation had been shut down
well before the storm arrived. It is estimated that 80% of the 1.3 million residents of the greater New
Orleans metropolitan area were evacuated.
By Sunday, August 28, most infrastructure along the Gulf Coast had been shut down, including all
Canadian National Railway and Amtrak rail traffic into the evacuation areas as well as the Waterford
Nuclear Generating Station.
Greater New Orleans area
At a news conference at 10:00 a.m. on August 28, shortly after Katrina was upgraded to a Category 5
storm, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin ordered the first ever mandatory evacuation of the city, calling
Katrina "a storm that most of us have long feared." The city government also established several
"refuges of last resort" for citizens who could not leave the city, including the massive Louisiana
Superdome, which sheltered approximately 26,000 people and provided them with food and water for
several days as the storm came ashore.
Of the 60,000 people stranded in New Orleans, the Coast Guard rescued over 33,500.
FEMA provided housing assistance (rental assistance, trailers, etc.) to over 700,000 applicants - families
and individuals. However, only one-fifth of the trailers requested in Orleans Parish have been supplied
resulting in an enormous housing shortage in the city of New Orleans.
To provide for additional housing, FEMA has also paid for the hotel costs of 12,000 individuals and
families displaced by Katrina.
Aid
Over seventy countries pledged monetary donations or other assistance. Kuwait made the largest
single pledge, $500 million; other large donations were made by Qatar ($100 million), South Korea ($30
million), India, China (both $5 million), Pakistan ($1.5 million), and Bangladesh ($1 million).
Cuba and Venezuela were the first countries to offer aid, in the form of $1 million, 1,100 doctors, 26.4
metric tons of medicine, two mobile hospitals, 10 water purifying plants, 18 generators, 20 tons of
bottled water, 50 tons of canned food and 66,000 barrels of heating oil. Their offers were refused by the
U.S. government.
Countries like Sri Lanka, which was still recovering from the Indian Ocean Tsunami, also offered to help.
Countries including Canada, Mexico, Singapore, and Germany sent supplies, relief personnel, troops,
ships and water pumps to aid in the disaster recovery. Britain's donation of 350,000 emergency meals
did not reach victims because of laws regarding mad cow disease. Russia's initial offer of two jets was
declined by the U.S. State Department but accepted later. The French offer was also declined and
requested later.
Despite receiving aid from around the world, there was also a heavy dose of criticism from around the
world including accusations of racism that were revealed at the international level across global press.
Quotations from the UK Mirror such as "Many things about the United States are wonderful, but it has a
vile underbelly which is usually kept well out of sight. Now in New Orleans it has been exposed to the
world." were common.
The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Oxfam, Common Ground Collective, Emergency
Communities, and many other charitable organizations provided housing, food, and water to the
victims of the storm. These organizations also provided an infrastructure for shelters throughout
Louisiana and other states that held thousands of evacuees. They were not, however, allowed into
New Orleans proper by the National Guard for several days after the storm because of safety
concerns. These organizations raised $4.25 billion in donations by the public, with the Red Cross
receiving over half of the donations.