Made Landfall Three Times
Hurricane Katrina
When?
Lifespan from 23td August to August 31st
Made landfall three times
Where?
Affected Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama
Developed on 23rd August over the south Bahamas and was named Katrina the next day
28th August it became a category 4 and was heading for coasts of Mississippi and Louisiana
The hurricane intensified to a category 5 with wind speeds of 280km h-1 and gusts of 345km h-1 with a central pressure of 902mb
President Bush declared a state of emergency on 27th August in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi
Most of the population managed to leave in private cars and school buses but 150,000 people remained and were instructed to seek refuge in Louisiana Superdrome
Hit Louisiana on morning 29th August with a massive storm surge up to 10m
Impacts (Economic, Enviromental, Social)
Primary
Damaged or destroyed 30 oil platforms
1.3 million acres of forest lands destroyed
Cotton and sugar cane crops were flattened
230,000 jobs eliminated on the Gulf Coast
Many oil rigs in the Gulf area were damaged with immediate effect of the price of oil going up
Famous New Orleans French Quarter was severely damaged affecting tourism revenues
New Orleans flood defences were breached causing 80% of the city to be flooded
Trees uprooted and forests destroyed
Flood waters covering New Orleans into Lake Pontchartrain contained raw sewage, bacteria, heavy metals, pesticides, toxic chemicals and over 24million litres of oil
Over 20% of marshes used for breeding homes were permanently turned into water
Damage forced 16 National Wildlife Refuges to close
55,000 houses too damaged to be repaired
110,000 houses flooded out of 180,000
1242 killed (few died in the aftermath as US had good access to water and medical supplies)
26,000 people