Date/location and event:
Hurricane Katrina began as a very low-pressure weather system, which strengthened to become a tropical storm and eventually a hurricane as it moved west and neared the Florida coast on the evening of 25th August 2005. After crossing Florida, it strengthened further before veering inland towards Louisiana. At this point, the wind speeds were approximately 200km/h along a stretch of coastline. Equal devastation was seen inland as there were storm surges.
Social impacts:
- Over 1 million people had to be rehoused, e.g., Houston, Texas had an increase of 35,000.
- After the storm, Louisiana showed a population decline of 4.87%.
- Many people were traumatized as they had lost everything.
- Racial tensions rose as many of the victims were black African Americans.
- At least 1,836 people died in the actual hurricane.
Economic impacts:
- It is the costliest natural disaster in the history of the US.
- Some insurance companies have stopped issuing homeowners in that area because of the high cost of the hurricane.
Short term responses:
- Most of the management came from within the USA.
- The national hurricane center accurately plotted and tracked the event.
Environmental impacts:
- Oil spills from 44 facilities throughout southern east Louisiana resulted in over 7 million gallons of oil being leaked.
- Part of the land that was lost was breeding grounds for marine mammals, turtles, and fish.
- The storm surge caused substantial beach erosion.
- It is estimated that the total economic impact in Louisiana and Mississippi may exceed $150 billion.
- 1.3 million acres of forest lands were destroyed, costing about $5 billion.
- Total property damage was estimated at $81 billion.
- Of the 60,000 people stranded in New Orleans, 33,500 were rescued within a few days.
- Law enforcement and public safety agencies responded with manpower and equipment.
Long term responses:
- In September, Congress authorized $62.3 billion in aid, which was used to provide housing assistance.
- International communities also sent aid, the largest being $500 million from Kuwait.
- Charitable NGOs, e.g., American Red Cross, also provided assistance.
- The government was criticized for its response; many critics claimed that they were slow to respond and lacked coordination.
