Summary: The Effects Hurricane Katrina Had In New Orleans

Following Hurricane Katrina, many people were homeless, and thought that the minorities were not being treated fairly post-hurricane. Media images that were shown from Katrina showed that nearly all those left behind to suffer and some die were black Americans. Families that were most able to afford homes in flood-protected areas and that had resources to evacuate easily suffered a great deal less than poorer families. There was not enough resources for them and they were forced to leave all of their belongings. Post-Katrina, many of the minorities were not allowed back into their homes because it was a hazard. Parts of the city was covered deep in water and thousands had been unable to evacuate, leaving them to die. As news spread fast

The seriousness of Katrina's loss made it clear that local and state resources were overcome, leaving only federal services as capable responders (DW, 2009). There were problems with evacuation and housing. The quantity of individuals in need of shelter was overpowering. Due to the flooding, thousands of Louisiana citizens were made homeless (DW, 2009). There were concerns of mismanagement. There are ongoing fears over the mismanagement and lack of leadership in the assistance hard work in response to the storm and its outcome, and the hindered response to the flooding of New Orleans, and the following state of disorder (DW, 2009). The government was blamed for the death and disorder due to their slow response. There were a communication breakdown

“When communities are rebuilt, they must be even better and stronger than before the storm,” (“Bush”). This is what former president George W. Bush said during his speech in New Orleans concerning the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was a massive natural disaster that consisted of high powered winds and immense amounts of water. The hurricane was initially a category 3, but gradually rose to the classification of a category 5 storm, which is the largest storm there is (“Hurricane Irene”). In fact, there were accounts of winds recorded at about 127 miles per hour in the Gulf areas such as Grand Isle, Louisiana, and near the Mississippi River (“Hurricane Katrina Statistics”). All of these factors are made

Hurricane Katrina is a historical storm that hit the United States on August 29, 2005. The country experienced the storm exactly four years after the occurrence of the terrorist attack on 9/11/2001. This was three years after the establishment of a crucial department of Homeland Security. However, regardless of the intensified concentration to homeland security, response to Hurricane Katrina was a huge failure. The unfortunate response was due to lack of adequate planning and ability to take care of the risks. The possibility of New Orleans experiencing the effects of Hurricane had been put into consideration for quite a long time. There were enough warning signs of the hurricane. Declarations and deliberations were made days before the landfall. However, responders did not transfigure this information into the extent of preparedness suitable with the range of the imminent disaster.

Past research demonstrates a large racial divide in support of issues with clear racial overtones and we examine the possibility of a racial divide in reactions to Katrina using data from a national telephone survey of white and black Americans. Some find that there is a large different in racial sympthanys for the victims of Hurrican Katrina, how fast the government responded to urgency of attention for the victims, and support for proposed solutions to mend hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, verifying the racial nature of the disaster. Blacks viewed the hurricane victims more positively than did whites, drew a sharper distinction and held more sympathetic feelings for those stranded than evacuated from New Orleans, and were substantially more supportive of government efforts to improve the situation of hurricane victims and rebuild New Orleans. This racial gap is as large as any observed in recent polls, holds up even after controlling for education, income and other possible racial differences, and documents more fully differences that were hinted at in public opinion polls reported at the time of the disaster.

A modern-day study being done about the racial discrimination that was brought upon thousands of families during Hurricane Katrina is now in the limelight and takes a specific look at the way certain people perceive this notion of racism. The arguments that are being considered examine the past reports of Black and White participants regarding racial differences and their perceptions of the racial inequality following Hurricane Katrina. The participants for this investigation were asked whether or not the United States government would have provided aid and responded faster to different socio-economic and racial groups during the hurricane. According to de la Peña et al. (2010), a higher percentage of White participants said that socio-economic status is more important, while Blacks relied on race more. Additionally, more White participants believed that the slow government response effort was not influenced by race and/or socio-economic status of the victims. Although there is a contention between the two races, there is a higher percentage of agreement when concerning discrimination altogether.

In the year 2005, New Orleans was hit by a major natural disaster that took lives and destroyed the homes of many civilians. This wrath of Mother Nature came to be known as Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 hurricane with gusts peaking at 174/mph according to the Safir- Simpson wind scale (SSHS). The mix of both poor geographical characteristics and scientific accuracy resulted in damage costs accumulating up to $108 billion (2005 USD). The high damage costs made this natural disaster to be ranked as the costliest storm ever to hit the United States of America (Blake et al. 2011). The entirety of the damage is exemplified by the plethora of housing units dismembered, the annihilation of several bridges and buildings, which led to petroleum and

Following Hurricane Katrina, many people sought to answer the question of whether its social effects and the government response to the country’s biggest natural disaster had more to do with race or with class. During the Hurricane Katrina, the damage was worst in the city's low-lying areas where poor, black residents were concentrated. The fact that most of those pleading for help were black served as a reminder that race continued to affect the opportunities of Americans. The racial dimension of this inadequate governmental response provided a focused attention on the mixture of political bungling and racial hostility that transformed a natural disaster into an enduring human tragedy. Race, class and economic factors are seen as inextricably

On the morning of August Twenty-ninth, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region. The storm brought the water to about twenty feet high, swallowing eighty percent of the New Orleans city immediately. The flood and torrential rainstorm wreaked havoc and forced millions of people evacuate from the city. According to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, Katrina caused approximately one hundred and eight billion dollars in damage. Hurricane Katrina was one of the most destructive disasters have ever occurred in the United States, but it also revealed a catastrophic government at all levels’ failure in responding to the contingency.

One Weather Service meteorologist even voiced a very prophetic Katrina announcement, stating that: "Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks."

When Hurricane Katrina made landfall, it became one of the deadliest hurricanes ever to hit the United States, taking numerous lives and wiping away homes and belonging. Hurricane Katrina not only left physical devastation in its wake, but also has generated much debate investigating the question of whether the government’s mishandling of the emergency was an issue of race or class. Many people, including hurricane victims and critics, attributed that lack of immediate response to racial injustice, for those who were left behind to suffer and die were predominantly African Americans. Meanwhile, families who had sufficient resources to evacuate and could afford homes in safer, flood-protected areas were afflicted much less than poorer families,

The National Weather Service records indicate that on August 23, 2005, Hurricane Katrina initially developed as a tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean, and on August 24 was upgraded to a tropical storm. The storm moved on a northwesterly and then westerly track through the Bahamas, strengthening to a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale by the time it reached landfall near North Miami Beach, Florida, on August 25. Katrina weakened slightly as it moved southwesterly across Florida and entered the Gulf of Mexico on August 26 as a tropical storm. Between August 26 and 28, the storm quickly regained hurricane status and initially strengthened to a Category 5, taking aim for southeast Louisiana (see Fig. 1). On August 28, Katrina entered the Gulf of Mexico, about 250 miles south-southeast of the

Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the Joplin, Missouri tornado are easily two of the most devastating recent weather disasters for the United States. The death toll, property damage and loss, and rebuilding and recovery costs were monumental for both events. FEMA was criticised for the lack of coordination and response to Hurricane Katrina, in which case many private and volunteer sectors stepped up (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2011). However, in the Joplin tornado, FEMA and city officials allowed the private and voluntary sector to control the response and recovery efforts and supplemented them as needed. New Orleans has done well to improve the higher education and employment rates and decreasing violent crimes, but has neglected

The calamitous natural phenomenon known as Hurricane Katrina brought terrible side-effects to lower-class African Americans. A catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina changed the lives of the lower-class African Americans forever because of the devastation from several effects. People today are more prepared for a natural disaster because “Hurricane Katrina was one of the strongest storms to hit the United States coast within the last 100 years” in New Orleans (Brianna Frank). Most of these ramifications of Hurricane Katrina came from the phycological, economic and medical effects due to this natural disaster,

The part of the city where poor African Americans resided was hit the hardest (Fussell, Pg.95). Unfortunately, this neighborhood was the last on the list to be cleaned up and rebuilt. The African American residents were sent to the New Orleans Superdome, where many were taken for shelter (Pg.110). Some New Orleans citizens might say that Hurricane Katrina had a positive impact on their lives, teaching them how to live and survive during such a terrible time as well as the situation making them stronger however, this was not the case for African Americans (Pg.109). Despite all of the horrific situations, the community of New Orleans learned how to be prepared if there happens to be a next