RESEARCH PAPER
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Research Paper: Analysis of Major Event RESEARCH PAPER: ANALYSIS OF MAJOR EVENT
Brian Robinson
Liberty University
HLSC 500 Dr. Joseph Finck
12/10/2023
Research Paper: Analysis of Major Event RESEARCH PAPER: ANALYSIS OF MAJOR EVENT
Hurricane Katrina, a tropical cyclone that made landfall on the Gulf Coast in August of 2005, was the third-strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in the United States of America at the time. A total of 1,833 individuals lost their lives because of the hurricane, which had maximum sustained winds of 175 miles per hour. Additionally, millions of people were left homeless in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The high number of fatalities that were caused by the hurricane and the ensuing floods that it generated attracted the attention of people all around the world. Additionally, the way local, state, and federal officials dealt with the storm and its aftermath faced considerable and long-
lasting criticism. Regarding Hurricane Katrina, there is no specific individual who was named after the storm. Rather, the hurricane was given its name in accordance with the lists of hurricane
names that are maintained by the World Meteorological Organization. These lists are regularly updated every six years. As a result of the historical damage that Hurricane Katrina caused, the name Katrina was removed from the lists of names being used. A Category 3 classification on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale was assigned to the storm when it made landfall. This rating indicates that the storm delivered sustained winds of between 100 and 140 miles per hour and that it stretched across around four hundred miles.
Hurricane Katrina Before the Storm
While the tropical depression that would later become Hurricane Katrina formed over the
Bahamas on August 23, 2005, meteorologists were able to quickly warn those living in the states that are located along the Gulf Coast that a significant storm was shortly to arrive. As early as the
28th of August, evacuations had already begun throughout the region. After the hurricane made landfall, the National Weather Service forecasted that "the majority of the Gulf Coast area will
Research Paper: Analysis of Major Event be uninhabitable for weeks...perhaps longer." This prediction was made on that day. One city was in danger: New Orleans. The average elevation of the city is around six feet below sea level, and it is fully surrounded by water. This is even though almost half of the city is really located above sea level. The United States Army Corps of Engineers had constructed a network of levees
and seawalls throughout the course of the 20th century to prevent the city from being flooded. The levees that were constructed to hold back Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Borgne, and the waterlogged swamps and marshes to the east and west of the city were far less trustworthy than the levees that were constructed along the Mississippi River, which were strong and durable.
Hitting Florida First
Initially, on August 23, the storm presented itself as a tropical depression that was located
southeast of the Bahamas. The storm had reached a category one hurricane by the time it made landfall on the evening of August 25, which was located north of the county line between Broward and Miami-Dade counties. It was a moderate storm, with top winds of 80 miles per hour, but it was nevertheless powerful enough to knock out electricity for approximately one million people and create damage worth $630 million. Hurricane Katrina was reclassified as a tropical storm after it once again became weaker after it had passed over Florida. But the storm was gaining power above the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico, which is approximately 165 miles west of Key West. This occurred over the Gulf of Mexico. The storm was upgraded to a category five hurricane on August 28, and it was accompanied by consistent winds of 160 miles per hour. Levee Malfunction
A word that water had burst through the concrete flood wall that separated the city from the 17th Street Canal was received by the United States Army Corps of Engineers at five o'clock
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Research Paper: Analysis of Major Event in the morning on August 29. The United States Army Corps of Engineers administered the levees. Later, the Industrial Canal was also breached, which resulted in flooding in the district that is commonly referred to as the Lower Ninth Ward. Eighty percent of New Orleans was submerged in water by the time the levees of the London Avenue Canal were breached, which occurred in the late afternoon. Floodwaters reached depths of ten to fifteen feet in several regions, and they did not begin to recede for several weeks. Even though the levees and flood walls of New Orleans had been constructed to make them resistant to a hurricane of category three, fifty percent of the network was destroyed by the water. The first-ever mandatory evacuation order for the city of New Orleans was issued by former Mayor Ray Nagin the day before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. At the same time, he announced that the Superdome, which is a stadium situated on elevated ground close to the central business district, would function as a "shelter of last resort" for anybody who was unable to evacuate the city. (For instance, over 112,000 of New Orleans' almost 500,000 residents did not have access to vehicle transportation.) As the sun began to set, about eighty percent of the city's inhabitants had already left the area. When the storm hit, some 10,000 people took refuge in the Superdome, while tens of thousands of others decided to stay indoors and wait it out at home. A significant amount of rain had already been falling for several hours prior to the arrival of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, which occurred early in the morning on Monday, August 29. A sizable number of the city's weak levees and drainage canals were unable to withstand the storm surge, which reached heights of up to nine meters in certain portions of the city. Some of the levees were completely swept away by water, while others had water infiltrate through the soil underneath them.
Aftermath
Research Paper: Analysis of Major Event Many people acted heroically in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Coast Guard rescued some 34,000 people in New Orleans alone, and many ordinary citizens commandeered boats, offered food and shelter, and did whatever else they could to help their neighbors. Yet the government–particularly the federal government–seemed unprepared for the disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took days to establish operations in New Orleans, and even then, did not seem to have a sound plan of action. Officials, even including President George W. Bush, seemed unaware of just how terrible things were in New Orleans and
elsewhere: how many people were stranded or missing; how many homes and businesses had been damaged; how much food, water and aid was needed. Katrina had left in her wake what one
reporter called a “total disaster zone” where people were “getting absolutely desperate.” After the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed between 8,000 and 12,000 people; Hurricane Maria, which killed more than 4,600 people in Puerto Rico in 2017; and the Okeechobee Hurricane, which hit Florida in 1928 and killed as many as 3,000 people, the death toll from Hurricane Katrina is the fourth highest of any hurricane in the history of the United States or the United States of America. A research that was published in 2008 by the American Medical Association found that the most common causes of death in Louisiana, where it is suspected that more than 1,500 people have died as a result of the impact of Hurricane Katrina, were drowning (40 percent), injury and trauma (25 percent), and cardiac diseases (11 percent). Failure In Government Responses Bad criticism of the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. This caused President Bush's reputation to suffer irreparable harm, as he was on the verge of finishing a month-long vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, when the hurricane struck. It was admitted in 2006 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which oversaw designing the levee
Research Paper: Analysis of Major Event system in New Orleans, that most of the flooding that occurred because of Hurricane Katrina was
caused by engineering techniques that were both out of date and flawed. At the state and local levels, Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana and Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans have been
condemned for their failure to issue mandatory evacuation orders earlier. In 2007, Blanco chose not to run for reelection, and he passed away before the year 2019. Following his departure from government in 2010, Nagin was subsequently found guilty of bribery, fraud, and money laundering offenses that were committed during his tenure in office. One thing to consider is that many people had nowhere to go. On Monday, emergency personnel at the Superdome in New Orleans, whose supplies had been restricted to begin with, took an additional 15,000 people who had fled the storm before closing the doors. When it came to anyone else, the leaders of the city had no actual plan. The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center complex was assaulted by tens of thousands of people who were desperate for food, water, and shelter. However, they discovered nothing but turmoil inside the complex. At the same time, it was extremely difficult to leave New Orleans. This was especially true for the poor,
who were unable to leave since they did not have access to cars or any other means of transportation. For example, there were individuals who attempted to go across the Crescent City Connection bridge to reach the neighboring suburb of Gretna; however, they were forced to turn back by law enforcement personnel who were armed with shotguns. Katrina wreaked havoc on substantial portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, but New Orleans was the epicenter of the misery that was felt throughout the region. As of the time of the storm, around 67 percent of the city's population was comprised of Black people, and 30 percent of its inhabitants were living below the poverty line. These circumstances were made worse by Hurricane Katrina,
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Research Paper: Analysis of Major Event which made a sizable number of New Orleans's most impoverished residents much more susceptible to harm than they had been before the catastrophe. Hurricane Katrina was responsible
for the deaths of over 2,000 people and impacted approximately 90,000 square miles of land in the United States. The evacuees were dispersed across the country in the hundreds of thousands. According to The Data Center, an independent research group based in New Orleans, the storm resulted in the displacement of more than one million people in the Gulf Coast region. Changes That Were Made One of the largest and most unexpected migrations of people in the history of the United States was the vast exodus that occurred during and after Hurricane Katrina from the Gulf Coast and New Orleans to other parts of the country. Around 1.2 million people in Louisiana were forced to relocate for a period ranging from months to years, and thousands of them never came back. By July 2006, not a year after Hurricane Katrina, the population of New Orleans had decreased by more than 250,000, reaching approximately 230,172. This is according to the Data Center, which reported that the city's population was 484,674 in April 2007. The population reached slightly over 390,000 by the year 2020, which is around 80 percent of its pre-Katrina population. Some of those who had evacuated eventually returned to the area. A number of reforms were made by Congress as a direct result of the shortcomings that occurred during the Katrina response. The necessity that all levels of government undergo training to carry out coordinated disaster response plans was the most important of these requirements. FEMA distributed billions of dollars in grants in the ten years that followed Hurricane Katrina to assure improved preparedness. The Army Corps of Engineers, in the meantime, constructed a network of floodwalls and levees around New Orleans that cost fourteen
billion dollars. For the time being, the agency stated that the effort had insured that the city
Research Paper: Analysis of Major Event would be protected from flooding. However, a report that was released by the Army Corps in April 2019 said that the system will require updating and enhancements as early as 2023. This is since increasing sea levels and the disappearance of protective barrier islands are both contributing factors. The Comeback For example, oil spills, hazardous waste, sewage, and mold were among the environmental dangers and debris that were monitored and evaluated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because of the hurricane. When it came to environmental cleansing and restoration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also offered technical support and guidance. A large humanitarian response was organized by the American Red Cross, which included the opening of hundreds of shelters, the provision of millions of meals, as well as the provision of financial help, medical care, and emotional support to those who were affected by the disaster. A large number of additional federal agencies, state and local governments, volunteer organizations, faith-based groups, corporations, and people also helped to the response and recovery efforts by donating money, goods, services, and their time to assist the communities that were impacted by the disaster. How Do We Move Forward? In New Orleans, the Lower Ninth Ward, which is a neighborhood that is African American and is poor, received a significant amount of attention from the media. This region was flooded as a result of a breach in the floodwall of the Inner Harbor (Industrial) Canal, which is a shipping canal that cuts through the middle of the city and, at the time (which is truly incredible), was directly connected to the Gulf of Mexico through the Intracoastal Waterway, the
Research Paper: Analysis of Major Event Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, and Lake Borgne. The force of the water caused the flood wall to be damaged, and a barge that was not properly secured managed to make its way through. Many residents were drowned as water flowed through the break, sweeping their homes off their foundations, and causing them more damage. There are still several blocks of this neighborhood that are unoccupied fifteen years after Hurricane Katrina. This is because many of the houses in this neighborhood had to be demolished, and people were unable to return and restore what they had lost. This is even though organizations like Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation are contributing financial resources to the reconstruction of the area and attempting to "make it right" for the people who live there. One may say that this is an example of a natural calamity that has forced a relocation. In his work titled Geographies of New Orleans, the geographer Richard Campanella examines the subject of whether the poor, Black districts were more affected by flooding than the
more affluent white neighborhoods. This is because the impoverished tend to occupy the lower, less desirable land regions. It was demonstrated by his methodology, which involved mapping the demographics and the degrees of flooding together, that the solution is more complicated than you might otherwise anticipate. The distribution of ethnic groups, the distribution of land that was inundated, and the amount of time that an area stayed flooded following Hurricane Katrina were all factors that he considered. According to his data, the pre-Katrina population of New Orleans consisted of 67% African Americans and 28% whites. Furthermore, 76% of properties that were constantly flooded were owned by African American families, while only 20% were owned by white families. This is assuming that only the city of New Orleans itself is taken into consideration at this
point. It can be concluded that African American neighborhoods were subjected to more
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Research Paper: Analysis of Major Event persistent floods. In relation to the more significant flooding, the maps that are presented below illustrate the intricate structure of the distribution of social vulnerability. The floodwaters that were the deepest were found in the neighborhoods of Gentilly, New Orleans East, the Lower 9th ward, Chalmette, and Lakeview. The distribution of income and poverty in these communities is complicated, with New Orleans East, the Lower 9th Ward, and Gentilly being neighborhoods that are primarily comprised of Black residents, yet Lakeview is a financially prosperous neighborhood that is primarily comprised of white residents. Chalmette is a suburb that is white and has a mixed income. The poorest people of the city, who were primarily represented by the African American population, were more negatively affected by Hurricane Katrina than the wealthy members of the
community. In conclusion, Hurricane Katrina had a detrimental impact on their lives. Due to their heightened sensitivity, the impoverished are the citizens who are also the most susceptible. In addition, they are the least resilient, with lower levels of adaptive capacity, which is virtually completely attributable to a lack of financial means. Many individuals would not have been able to go back to their homes if it were not for the tremendous generosity of non-profit and non-
governmental organizations, faith-based groups, and volunteers. A number of other factors, including insurance payouts, a variety of initiatives financed by the federal government, such as the Road Home Program, and the influx of people and businesses to the area who were prepared to engage in rebuilding, all helped to the recovery of New Orleans neighborhood by neighborhood and home by house. If another "Katrina" struck the city, would New Orleans be able to recover more quickly? Numerous enhancements have been made there. Summary
Research Paper: Analysis of Major Event Efforts have been made to significantly enhance preparedness and response, which includes the development of evacuation plans that include transportation options for individuals who do not possess a vehicle. Although there has been progress made in terms of the city's general adaptive ability and resilience, as well as the stabilization of the city's economy, poverty continues to be a significant issue for the city. The system of engineering structures that was designed to defend the city from a surge from a storm with a category three level "100-year" (1%
likelihood in a particular year) storm has been reconstructed and significantly upgraded. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that this system would deteriorate over the course of time, and the cost of maintaining it is extremely high. The city of New Orleans might be in a favorable position right now if a storm of category three were to strike the city. To determine with absolute
certainty what the effects would be in terms of long-term recovery in the future or for a greater storm is impossible since there are too many factors involved. As an illustration, a calamity with the same level of precipitation as Hurricane Harvey will most certainly prove to be just as disastrous to New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina was.
Research Paper: Analysis of Major Event References
Mullen, M. (2005, Updated 2016). Hurricane Katrina Milletr, A. (2005 - 2015). Longer Term Recovery
Rafferty, J.P. (2005) Updated (2023). Hurricane Katrina Zapata, C. (2009) Hurricane Katrina: Natural Disasters Edwards, C. (2015) Hurricane Katrina: Remembering The Federal Failures
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