Hurricane Katrina had many social effects, due the significant loss and disruption of lives it caused. The number of fatalities, direct and indirect, related to Katrina is 1,833[1] and over 400,000 people were left homeless. The hurricane left hundreds of thousands of people without access to their homes or jobs, it separated people from relatives, and caused both physical and mental distress on those who suffered through the storm and its aftermath, such as Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).[2]
At the beginning of 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) detailed three unfortunate events that were considered more than probable to happen in the United States.[3] These three included deadly earthquakes in and around San Francisco, an attack in New York City at the hands of a terror group, and a combined hurricane and levee failure in New Orleans.[3] The latter of the three is what would become, four years later, the costliest natural disaster in United States history.[3] This was not the first hurricane, however, that was of concern to local agencies—the ones who plan for and execute emergency evacuations, etc. Hurricane Georges, a Category 3 storm, started an evacuation in 1998 but missed downtown New Orleans after heading west several hours before expected landfall.[3]
While New Orleans experiences many of the same issues that other coastal cities do in the face of a storm, it also holds its own unique characteristics. The city sits below sea level, at about two feet below sea level at any given place.[4] The Mississippi River, in contrast, sits above sea level by the same difference. At the extremes, though, a part of the city can be ten to fifteen feet below sea level.[4] After Hurricane Georges and Hurricane Floyd in 1999, these stressors created the need for increased drainage and a sustainable levee system.[4]
The purpose of the levees on the eastern and western banks of the Mississippi River is to keep water out of the city when levels become high.[4] The juxtaposition of this is that while they may keep water out, after surges and storms overcome the levees, the structures also play a strong role in keeping the water trapped in the city.[4] Continuing years later, inspections on the levees of New Orleans and its various parts of town and parishes details how insufficient these levees are and continue to be.[4] Inspections through the Army Corps of Engineers showed several issues with the levees in place.[5] These issues include wall erosion, pounding water, settling/tilting of flood wall panels, and animal burrowing.[6]
As the city began to grow, drainage and levees were not seen as “enough” when faced with the potential of endangering the 1.4 million persons who called the city their home. Planning for the need to evacuate the population that would be willing and able to evacuate in an emergency, officials implemented a highway contraflow system.[4] With this, all major inbound roads would be flipped to provide extra lanes for outbound purposes. This method was used prior to Hurricane Katrina in nearby states, citing “mixed successes”.[4]
On August 28, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city, the first in its history.[7] Most of the city's residents evacuated, but approximately 100,000–120,000 remained after the mandatory evacuation order.[7] The Superdome was made available as a shelter for those who were not able to evacuate and did not have protection from the storm.[7] On August 29, about 12,000 people sought shelter between the Superdome and other shelters provided by the Red Cross.[7] The extreme flooding caused by the hurricane later caused an additional 18,000 residents seek shelter at the Superdome and about 20,000 to the New Orleans Convention Center, neither of which were adequately prepared for that high numbers of evacuees.[7]
Two weeks after the storm, 75% of evacuees were staying within 250 miles of the homes they lived in prior to the storm and by September 30, 2005 – a month after the storm – evacuees were registered in all 50 states.[7]After 10 months, only a quarter of residents in the areas of the city that had flooded had returned and the evacuees that had moved away from the city had relocated an average of 3.5 times.[8]In total, it is estimated that over a million people were displaced by Hurricane Katrina.[9]
In 2006, 200,000 people called New Orleans home, a significant drop from the population of nearly half a million before Katrina.[10][11] Of the rest of those who were displaced, about 40% moved to Texas and the rest went farther to either New York, Ohio, or even California.[12]
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Housing Authority managed 7,200 subsidized housing units that were occupied by low income families.[13]After the flooding approximately 3,000 units were identified as significantly damaged and would need to be demolished and rebuilt.[13] Although 3,000 units were destroyed, only 1,829 units were rebuilt and of these less than half met the criteria for subsidized housing.[13]This further increased rental prices in New Orleans and caused the waitlist for subsidized housing became so long that it eventually closed and further prevented many of the lower income families from being able to move back to New Orleans.[13] Some architects question if all of the 3,000 properties really sustained damage significant enough to warrant demolition.[13]It is possible that the city of New Orleans used Hurricane Katrina as an opportunity for disaster capitalism by replacing subsidized housing with new homes to be sold to private owners and not setting priority on building housing that would have helped displaced citizens to return home.[13]
President George W. Bush visiting a family displaced by Hurricane Katrina during his September 5, 2005 visit to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Many evacuees from New Orleans, facing months without income, severely damaged or destroyed homes, and little in the way of recoverable possessions have begun expressing desires to permanently resettle elsewhere.[14] Possible locations include the areas to which they were evacuated, or with friends or family in other states. This would lead to potentially large demographic effects not only on New Orleans but on the entire country, rivaled only by the Great Migration of African Americans in the first half of the 20th century, and the mass migration of the 1930s as a result of the Great Depression. The effects of this migration are likely to endure for decades as former citizens of New Orleans resettle in other areas yet retain strong cultural ties to New Orleans.
Studies have shown that the concentration of poverty is self-perpetuating, thus some postulate that the hurricane may have a small positive impact on future poverty levels.[15]
Not only were evacuees displaced, but also some National Guard soldiers returning home from their deployment to Iraq were displaced because they were unable to find homes upon their arrival.
By July 2014, it was reported that nearly half of New Orleans neighborhoods have been restored back to over 90% of the residents from before Hurricane Katrina. Demographics of the city had shifted, with fewer African-American and white residents in the city now. This has allowed for a more diverse population with an increased number of Hispanic and Vietnamese residents after the storm. Of all age groups, children were the least likely to return to the city, decreasing the child population by 43%.[12]
In August 2015, most of New Orleans had been restored, however, there are still some areas, like the Lower Ninth Ward, that are still undergoing development.[16] There are many open lots where homes use to be and many marsh wetlands with wrecked ships and shipping containers left in open fields. They have rebuilt artificial barrier islands and wetlands just south of New Orleans, with belief that they will help protect the city from future storms that cause sea levels to rise.[16] In 2017, to remember all of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, a memorial sculpture, called the ‘Scrap House’ by artist Sally Heller was built in the heart of New Orleans.[17]
In terms of poverty, the rate 10 years after the hurricane was about the same prior to Katrina.[18]
Due to the wide displacement caused by Hurricane Katrina, many people were separated from their family members, including young children separated from their parents and pets. A coordinated effort by the American Red Cross, Microsoft, and the San Diego Supercomputer Center, combined many diverse databases and has been very effective in reconnecting children with their parents. An effort to catalogue, identify, or even to collect remains of the dead is still ongoing as of April 2006, leaving those who do not know the whereabouts of loved ones to suffer uncertainty and anxiety. Over time both the reconnection and recovery operations have improved, but it will be much time before the majority of bodies are retrieved and people reunited.
While many existing organizations have worked to help those displaced, and some new groups and special efforts have been initiated, the survivors of Hurricane Katrina are still largely unorganized. Survivors have only recently begun to form associations for their own interests in the recovery effort. The largest of these associations is the ACORN Katrina Survivors Association,[19] led by members New Orleans Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). The group has protested Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) policies in both Houston, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and claims over 2,000 members.
An unknown, but significant, number of people restarted their lives in Houston instead of returning to New Orleans.[20][21]
Health issues
Aside from the lack of water, food, shelter, and sanitation facilities, there were concerns that the prolonged flooding might lead to an outbreak of health problems for those who remained in the hurricane-affected areas. In addition to dehydration and food poisoning, there was a potential for communicable disease outbreaks of Cholera and respiratory illness, all related to the growing contamination of food and drinking water supplies in the area.[22][23]
President Bush declared an emergency for the entire Gulf Coast. Before the hurricane, government health officials prepared to respond, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began sending medical emergency supplies to locations near the worst-hit area within 48 hours after landfall.
Supplies shipped by CDC's Strategic National Stockpile provided pharmaceuticals, technical assistance teams, and treatment capacity for citizens otherwise stranded by the hurricane's catastrophic effect on hospital infrastructure in Louisiana and Mississippi. These supplies served an estimated 30 acute care hospitals south of Interstate Highway 10, and volunteers organized around its, "contingency stations," to become temporary stand-ins for hospitals, warehouses, and distribution facilities damaged by the storm. Alongside strong responses from state and local medical teams, CDC support remained crucial until normal infrastructure support began to return a week and a half later.
Within days after landfall, medical authorities established contingency treatment facilities for over 10,000people, and plans to treat thousands more were developing. Partnerships with commercial medical suppliers, shipping companies, and support services companies insured that evolving medical needs could be met within days or even hours.
There was concern the chemical plants and refineries in the area could have released pollutants into the floodwaters. People who suffer from allergies or lung disorders, such as asthma, may have health complications due to toxic mold and airborne irritants, leading to what some health officials have dubbed, "Katrina Cough". In Gulfport, Mississippi, several hundred tons of chicken and uncooked shrimp were washed out of their containers at the nearby harbor and could have contaminated the water table. On September 6, it was reported that Escherichia coli (E. coli) had been detected at unsafe levels in the waters that flooded New Orleans. The CDC reported on September 7 that five people had died of bacterial infection from drinking water contaminated with Vibrio vulnificus, a bacterium from the Gulf of Mexico.
Wide outbreaks of severe infectious diseases such as cholera and dysentery were not considered likely because such illnesses are not endemic in the United States.[24]
Mental health
Mental health issues were commonly experienced by residents affected by Hurricane Katrina, especially post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).[25] Five to seven months after the hurricane, 20% of people who had evacuated had exhibited mild to moderate mental health issues, 11% had exhibited serious mental health issues, and 16% had been diagnosed with PTSD.[25]
One year later, evacuees exhibiting serious mental health issues and being diagnosed with PTSD had increased to 14% and 20%, respectively, which was unusual compared to other natural disasters.[25] Residents of New Orleans with chronic mental health disorders were negatively affected by Hurricane Katrina as well. Before the hurricane, there were 196 practicing psychiatrists in New Orleans; after the hurricane, only 22 of them returned to New Orleans.[26] Hospital rooms available for mental health patients also decreased from 487 to 190 because of the storm.[26]
In addition to the increased risk of PTSD, the citizens of New Orleans that had been displaced to Houston, TX endured their own set of unique challenges. The media often covered stories of the increase in crime rate in Houston and often attributed the spike in crime to the displaced citizens of New Orleans which caused some Houstonians to become angry and resentful toward the victims of Hurricane Katrina.[27]This created a moral panic in Houston; a sociological concept that describes the effect of media stories onto its audience.[27] Case studies comparing the crime rates in Houston before and after Hurricane Katrina revealed that there was not a significant increase in crime rate.[27] This moral panic created an unfair stigma onto the victims of Hurricane Katrina and it is believed that this may have led to loss of employment opportunities, barriers in education, and additional psychological stress.[27]
Many residents of Houston who had moved from New Orleans after Katrina experienced a sense of déjà vu in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey.[28][29]
Animal issues
A stray dog abandoned by its owners approaches a rescue worker in New Orleans. Many animals were left by their owners who could not take them to the evacuation shelters.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, approximately 8,000 animals were rescued and brought to temporary shelters set up at the Lamar-Dixon Exposition Center in Gonzales, Louisiana, or the Parker Coliseum at Louisiana State University.[30]
Most helicopter pilots and rescue boat captains refused to load pets in order to hold more people. Many families in the affected area refused to evacuate without their pets. While some field hospitals allowed pets to enter with their patients, those who were evacuated from the Superdome were not allowed to take their pets with them.[31]
One case that attracted national attention was that of Snowball, a small white dog made famous by coverage of an Associated Press reporter, who said, "When a police officer confiscated a little boy's dog, the child cried until he vomited. 'Snowball, Snowball', he cried."[32][33] The story of "Snowball" became a centerpiece in fundraising appeals by welfare organizations and various ad-hoc websites were created by people soliciting funds to help locate Snowball and reunite him with the boy.[32]
Rescue teams were set up in the worst hit regions in response to desperate pleas from pet owners. Horses posed a particular problem, as they are easily stranded and cannot stand in water for long periods of time. Rescue agencies set up shelters and tried to find homes to adopt pets lost by their owners. Rescue centers were becoming overwhelmed in the days immediately following the hurricane. Several online resources were set up to give rescue groups, individuals, and businesses from around the country a centralized venue to publish their offers and requests for helping the animals displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Most of the 10,000 fish at the New Orleans Aquarium of the Americas died because the backup power ran out after four days.[34] Most of the marine mammals and a large sea turtle survived. The Audubon Zoo lost only three animals out of a total of 1,400 due to good disaster planning and location on high ground.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in conjunction with the Louisiana SPCA and many other groups, had hundreds of staff and volunteers working in Louisiana and Mississippi. As of September 20, 2005, 6,031 animals were rescued and 400 were reunited with their owners.[35] An estimated 600,000 animals were killed or left without shelter as a result of Hurricane Katrina.[36]
Katrina also had a significant impact on the popularity of the name for babies. According to the Social Security Administration, Katrina, which had ranked as the 281st female baby name in 2004, dropped down to 382nd most popular name in 2006, 600th most popular name in 2007, and 815th most popular name in 2009.[41] This surprised experts in naming trends, as past major hurricanes such as Hurricane Camille in 1969 had typically increased the popularity of a name due to its greater exposure.[42]
Hurricane Katrina was a devastating tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $186.3 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. Katrina was the twelfth tropical cyclone, the fifth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was also the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States, gauged by barometric pressure.
As the center of Hurricane Katrina passed southeast of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, winds downtown were in the Category 1 range with frequent intense gusts. The storm surge caused approximately 23 breaches in the drainage canal and navigational canal levees and flood walls. As mandated in the Flood Control Act of 1965, responsibility for the design and construction of the city’s levees belongs to the United States Army Corps of Engineers and responsibility for their maintenance belongs to the Orleans Levee District. The failures of levees and flood walls during Katrina are considered by experts to be the worst engineering disaster in the history of the United States. By August 31, 2005, 80% of New Orleans was flooded, with some parts under 15 feet (4.6 m) of water. The famous French Quarter and Garden District escaped flooding because those areas are above sea level. The major breaches included the 17th Street Canal levee, the Industrial Canal levee, and the London Avenue Canal flood wall. These breaches caused the majority of the flooding, according to a June 2007 report by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The flood disaster halted oil production and refining which increased oil prices worldwide.
Hurricane preparedness in New Orleans has been an issue since the city's early settlement because of its location.
Criticism of the government response to Hurricane Katrina was a major political dispute in the United States in 2005 that consisted primarily of condemnations of mismanagement and lack of preparation in the relief effort in response to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Specifically, there was a delayed response to the flooding of New Orleans, Louisiana.
The disaster recovery response to Hurricane Katrina in late 2005 included U.S. federal government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the United States Coast Guard (USCG), state and local-level agencies, federal and National Guard soldiers, non-governmental organizations, charities, and private individuals. Tens of thousands of volunteers and troops responded or were deployed to the disaster; most in the affected area but also throughout the U.S. at shelters set up in at least 19 states.
The reconstruction of New Orleans refers to the rebuilding process endured by the city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the city on August 29, 2005. The storm caused levees to fail, releasing tens of billions of gallons of water. The levee failure contributed to extensive flooding in the New Orleans area and surrounding parishes. About 80% of all structures in Orleans Parish sustained water damage. Over 204,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, and more than 800,000 citizens displaced—the greatest displacement in the United States since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Wind damage was less severe than predicted. The damage that took place that needed to be repaired cost about $125 billion.
Canada was one of the countries to provide the most aid and relief for Hurricane Katrina. They provided ships, supplies, volunteers, search-and-rescue teams, and more. It also accepted some evacuees to stay in Canada.
This article contains a historical timeline of the events of Hurricane Katrina on August 23–30, 2005 and its aftermath.
Hurricane Katrina struck the United States on August 29, 2005, causing over a thousand deaths and extreme property damage, particularly in New Orleans. The incident affected numerous areas of governance, including disaster preparedness and environmental policy.
Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which included three of the top ten most intense Atlantic hurricanes in terms of barometric pressure ever recorded, Rita was the seventeenth named storm, tenth hurricane, and fifth major hurricane of the 2005 season. It was also the earliest-forming 17th named storm in the Atlantic until Tropical Storm Rene in 2020. Rita formed near The Bahamas from a tropical wave on September 18, 2005 that originally developed off the coast of West Africa. It moved westward, and after passing through the Florida Straits, Rita entered an environment of abnormally warm waters. Moving west-northwest, it rapidly intensified to reach peak winds of 180 mph (285 km/h), achieving Category 5 status on September 21. However, it weakened to a Category 3 hurricane before making landfall in Johnson's Bayou, Louisiana, between Sabine Pass, Texas and Holly Beach, Louisiana, with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h). Rapidly weakening over land, Rita degenerated into a large low-pressure area over the lower Mississippi Valley by September 26.
Many representatives of the news media reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina became directly involved in the unfolding events, instead of simply reporting. Due to the loss of most means of communication, such as land-based and cellular telephone systems, field reporters in many cases became conduits for information between victims and authorities.
The National Weather Service bulletin for the New Orleans region of 10:11 a.m., August 28, 2005, was a particularly dire warning issued by the local Weather Forecast Office in Slidell, Louisiana, warning of the devastation that Hurricane Katrina could wreak upon the Gulf Coast of the United States, and the torrent of pain, misery and suffering that would follow once the storm left the area.
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts is a 2006 documentary film directed by Spike Lee about the devastation of New Orleans, Louisiana following the failure of the levees during Hurricane Katrina. It was filmed in late August and early September 2005, and premiered at the New Orleans Arena on August 16, 2006 and was first aired on HBO the following week. The television premiere aired in two parts on August 21 and 22, 2006 on HBO. It has been described by Sheila Nevins, chief of HBO's documentary unit, as "one of the most important films HBO has ever made." The title is a reference to the blues tune "When the Levee Breaks" by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.
Katrina refrigerators are refrigerators that were destroyed or rendered unusable during Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, and their aftermath. Many were made into temporary folk art.
People from the Gulf States region in the southern United States, most notably New Orleans, Louisiana, were forced to leave their homes because of the devastation brought on by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and were unable to return because of a multitude of factors, and are collectively known as the Gulf Coast diaspora and by standard definition considered internally displaced persons. At their peak, hurricane evacuee shelters housed 273,000 people and, later, FEMA trailers housed at least 114,000 households. Even a decade after Hurricane Katrina, many victims who were forced to relocate were still unable to return home.
The Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (PETS) was a bi-partisan initiative in the United States House of Representatives to require states seeking Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance to accommodate pets and service animals in their plans for evacuating residents facing disasters. Introduced by Congressmen Tom Lantos (D-California) and Christopher Shays (R-Connecticut) on September 22, 2005, the bill passed the House of Representatives on May 22, 2006, by a margin of 349 to 29. Technically an amendment to the Stafford Act, it was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 6, 2006. The bill is now Public Law 109-308.
As a result of Hurricane Katrina and its effects on New Orleans, Tulane University was closed for the second time in its history—the first being during the American Civil War. The university closed for four months during Katrina, as compared to four years during the Civil War.
The Louisiana Superdome was used as a "shelter of last resort" for those in New Orleans unable to evacuate from the city when Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005.
The COVID-19 pandemic coincided with record-breaking wildfires in the western United States and a record number of hurricane landfalls in the southeastern United States. Emergency evacuation may be required for people living in areas threatened by natural disasters. Historic procedures maximizing capacity of public transport and emergency shelters may be inconsistent with quarantine and physical distancing measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not advisable to set up congregate shelters in an environment heavily impacted by a pandemic. Non-congregate shelters typically provide more effective physical distancing. Examples include buildings with single room occupancy, hotels or dormitories with private sleeping spaces but possibly shared bathroom or cooking facilities. Thousands of evacuees from Hurricane Laura were still in emergency lodgings as Hurricane Delta approached the Louisiana coast. Six-thousand from southwest Louisiana were in twelve New Orleans area hotels. Three-thousand-five-hundred remained in shelters as Hurricane Zeta approached Louisiana. A volcanic eruption on the island of Saint Vincent in April 2021 caused evacuation of sixteen-thousand people. Four-thousand evacuees were placed in eighty-nine government shelters after being tested for COVID-19, with those testing positive taken to isolation centers. Six-thousand evacuees found shelter in private homes.
The Southeastern United States, extending from South Florida to Louisiana and areas inland, was severely affected by Hurricane Katrina, causing many deaths and billions in damages. After developing on August 23, Katrina made landfall near the border of Broward and Miami-Dade counties with 80 mph (130 km/h) winds on August 25. After emerging from the state, Katrina intensified into one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes, becoming a Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson scale. It moved ashore near the border of Louisiana and Mississippi and weakened as it moved inland, dissipating on August 31.
References
↑ Knabb, Richard D.; Rhome, Jamie R.; Brown, Daniel P. "Tropical Cyclone Report Hurricane Katrina"(PDF). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original(PDF) on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
1 2 3 4 Cole, T.W., and Fellows, K. L. (2008). "Risk Communication Failure: A Case Study of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina". Southern Communication Journal. 73 (3): 211–28. doi:10.1080/10417940802219702. S2CID144863893.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wolshon, Brian.Institute of Transportation Engineers. ITE Journal, suppl. ITE 2002 Spring Conference and Exhibit: March 24–27, 2002; Washington Vol. 72, Iss. 2, (Feb 2002): 44–49.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Nigg, J.M., Barnshaw, J., and Torres, M.R. (2006). "Hurricane Katrina and the Flooding of New Orleans: Emergent Issues in Sheltering and Temporary Housing". The Annals of the American Academy. 604: 113–28. doi:10.1177/0002716205285889. S2CID145637417.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ A Continuing Storm: The On-Going Struggles of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees. Appleseed Foundation. 2006.
1 2 3 Norris, F.H, and Rosen, C.S. (2009). "Innovations in disaster mental health services and evaluation: National, state, and local responses to Hurricane Katrina". Administrative Policy and Mental Health. 36 (3): 159–64. doi:10.1007/s10488-009-0218-y. PMID19365721. S2CID7805509.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Katrina on the Web – accounts of New Orleans during and after the storm, breaching of the levees, rebuilding, statistical analysis, and the diaspora of victims
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