Hurricane Katrina
General
Hit South East USA
USA - very economically developed
Cause
formed over Bahamas on 23erd August
direction of movement
moved North Westerly
moved over warm water of Gulf of Mexico
Category 3 hurricane when hit Louisiana and Mississippi - 29th August.
Secondary hazards of tropical storm
Louisiana
Mississipii
200 km/h winds
200-250 mm rainfall
8.5m storm surge
Social impacts - high winds, storm surges and flooding
1836 killed
300,000 homes destroyed
100's of thousands made homeless
3 mill people without electricity
one of main routes from New Orleans closed b/c 1-10 bridge collapsed - evac more difficult
Water supplies polluted with sewage and chemicals
5 died from using contaminated water
18 schools in New Orleans destroyed & 75 schools badly damaged
disrupted education
Economic impacts b/c of secondary hazards
230,000 jobs lost from damaged businesses
Industry disrupted
30 oil platforms in G.O.M destroyed
disrupting oil industry
Ports e.g. Gulfport in Mississippi damaged
affected shipping industry
destroyed 5300 km2 of forest in Missippi
$5 bill income loss of income from logging
Total damage cost = $300 bill
Environmental
Coastal habitats like sea turtle breeding beaches damaged
some Coastal conservation areas destroyed
e.g. Breton National Wildlife Refuge - Louisianna
Flooding damaged oil refineries in Louisiana
massive oil spills
Flooding of salt marshes -> habitat loss
Storm surge & heavy rainfall overwhelmed New Orleans levees
80% of New Orleans flooded
Response
Prediction/Monitoring
USA developed sophisticated monitoring system to predict if/where hurricane will hit
August 26th - National Hurricane Centre - issued warning for Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and tracked hurricane movements - updating Gov when and where it would hit
Preparation
Effective warning systems helped USA respond rapidly
Examples
US Coast Guard orderd helicopters & boats to be around vulnerable areas
FEMA organised teams and supplies
Mortuary teams with refrigerated trucks to deal with bodies
New orleans and other areas orderd mandatory evac b/f hurricane reached land
Post disaster
Emergency shelters set up for people who hadn't evac
e.g. Louisianana Superdome in New Orleans sheltered 26,000 people during hurricane
`Coastguard,police,army,fire service rescued 50,000 + people after hurricane hit
Organisations sent out Search and Rescue teams, medical teams, and supplies in area after hurricane
Charities raised over $4 bill of donations from public to provide aid to victims