Displaced Americans Post Hurricane Katrina
Early in the morning on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. When the storm made landfall, it had a Category 3 rating on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale–it brought sustained winds of 100–140 miles per hour–and stretched some 400 miles across. The storm itself did a great deal of damage, but its aftermath was catastrophic. Levee breaches led to massive flooding, and many people charged that the federal government was slow to meet the needs of the people affected by the storm. Hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were displaced from their homes, and experts estimate that Katrina caused more than $100 billion in damage.
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Diaspora: The movement, migration or scattering of a people away from an established or ancestral homeland.
Facts about Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina is one of the deadliest hurricanes in US history and was the most expensive natural disaster ever to affect the United States. The category 5 hurricane caused billions of dollars worth of damage, killed hundreds of people and destroyed homes along the entire East Coast of America.
- Hurricane Katrina was the 11th named storm of 2005 and the 5th hurricane.
- Hurricane Katrina followed Tropical Storm Jose, and was preceded by Hurricane Dennis in July 2005.
- Hurricane Katrina formed on August 23rd, 2005 and last until August 31st.
- The hurricane originated as a Tropical Storm over the Bahamas.
- Tropical Storm Katrina turned into Hurricane Katrina over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
- On August 27th, President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.
- The residents of New Orleans were evacuated from the city in their first ever mandatory evacuation. Around 1.2 million people were evacuated from the Gulf Coast in total.
- Hurricane Katrina became a category 5 hurricane on August 28th.
- By August 28th, almost all the infrastructure along the Gulf Coast had been closed down in preparation for Hurricane Katrina.
- The maximum wind speed of Hurricane Katrina was 175mph.
- In some places, rainfall from Hurricane Katrina reached 15 inches.
- At least 1,200 people died during Hurricane Katrina. Around half of these were in New Orleans alone.
- It’s estimated that Hurricane Katrina caused $108 billion worth of property damage. This is 50% more than Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
- Most of the damage was caused by flooding and storm surges from out at sea. Levees and flood protection measures were broken down by the storm, leaving towns and cities unprotected.
- The storm surges from Hurricane Katrina reached 20ft high.
- Around 90% of beachfront properties in Mississippi were destroyed by water.
- Around 80% of New Orleans was flooded by Hurricane Katrina.
- A total of 53 flood defenses in New Orleans were destroyed by Katrina, and the majority of roads out of the city were damaged, which restricted the evacuation efforts.
- The levees in New Orleans were only built to withstand category 3 hurricanes, which is why they were all destroyed by Hurricane Katrina which was a category 5.
- About 3 million people were left without electricity when Hurricane Katrina had ended.
- Around 90,000 square miles of land was affected by Hurricane Katrina.
- 30 oil platforms were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and 44 oil spills lost over 7 million gallons of oil into the ocean.
- The states most affected by Hurricane Katrina were Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
- Hurricane Katrina was named the deadliest storm to hit the USA since 1928.
- Over 70 countries around the world donated money and aid to the Hurricane Katrina clean up operation.
- Katrina has since been retired as a meteorological name and will never be used for North Atlantic hurricanes again.