Hurricane Katrina Research Paper
Hurricane Katrina: A Colossal Yet Preventable Disaster
Abstract
This paper examines the costliest natural disaster in United States history that is Hurricane Katrina. This paper explains how Hurricane Katrina classifies as a scientific, business, and engineering disaster. More importantly, this paper investigates the engineering component of Katrina and describes what could have been done within this field to prevent the majority of the economic damage done.
Introduction
A disaster is “a natural or man-made hazard resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment.” (“Disaster”, 2012) According to this definition, Hurricane Katrina is …show more content…
a prime example of a disaster. Considering Hurricane Katrina caused at least one hundred twenty-five billion dollars in economic damage (“Katrina damage”, 2005), it classifies as a business disaster. Being that Katrina was a hurricane that had a negative effect on the environment, it classifies as a scientific disaster. However, much of the economic damage done by this scientific disaster could have been prevented if more attention was paid to the New Orleans levee system, making it an engineering disaster. Disasters are often the result of inappropriately managed risk (“Disaster”, 2012). Such is the case with Hurricane Katrina, as up to fifty percent of the economic damage incurred could have been prevented had the risks associated with the levees been more appropriately managed (“Katrina damage”, 2005).
Overview
On August 23, 2005, Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas and quickly made its way over Southern Florida.
As it made its way westward over the Gulf of Mexico, the storm strengthened from a Category 1 hurricane to a Category 5. Although it caused much destruction along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas, the majority of the damage was done to Southeast Louisiana. By the time the hurricane made its landfall in Louisiana, the storm had calmed to a Category 3 (“Hurricane Katrina”, 2012). However, due to inadequate design of the levees and floodwalls protecting Louisiana, the hurricane caused over fifty failures in the levees. Tens of billions of gallons of water emerged from these breaches, flooding eighty percent of New Orleans and one hundred percent of Saint Bernard Parish (“2005 Levee Failures”, 2012). Over eighteen hundred people, with the large majority of them from Louisiana, were killed because of this disaster, making Katrina the deadliest United States hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane (“Hurricane Katrina”, …show more content…
2012).
Implications
Hurricane Katrina is by far the costliest United States Atlantic hurricane, with one hundred eight billion in property damages alone.
Hurricane Katrina caused an interruption in the oil supply, destroying thirty oil platforms and closing nine refineries. The foresting industry also took a major hit, considering 1.3 million acres of forest were destroyed. Due to the extensive flooding and property damage, hundreds of thousands of local residents were left unemployed and had no choice but to relocate from the Gulf Coast (“Hurricane Katrina”, 2012). Although the greatest damage inflicted by Katrina was economic, the environment took a hit as well. Hurricane Katrina caused significant beach erosion and land transformation, devastating coastal ecosystems. Not only this, but the hurricane caused oil spills from forty-four different facilities in Southeastern Louisiana (“Hurricane Katrina”,
2012).
Engineering Failure
Much of the economic and environmental damage caused by Hurricane Katrina could have been prevented. New Orleans is surrounded by a system of levees and floodwalls meant to protect the city from flooding. Unfortunately, due to inadequate design and construction by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, multiple levee failures were reported starting August 29, 2005. The most serious failures took place on the Industrial Canal, the 17th Street Canal (see Figure1), and the London Avenue Canal (“2005 Levee Failures”, 2012). Further investigation revealed two main causes for these catastrophic failures that left New Orleans in a state of destruction:
1. Civil engineers responsible for the design of the levees and floodwalls overestimated the strength of the soil surrounding them (“2005 Levee Failures”, 2012).
2. The floodwalls on the 17th Street, London Avenue, and Industrial canals extended only ten feet below sea level, seven feet shallower than they were supposed to (“2005 Levee Failures”, 2012).
Due to the inaccurate estimations of soil strength, the soil beneath the levees was actually weaker than the soil used in the l-wall design. When the hurricane struck, the weak soil combined with massive amounts of water and pressure caused the walls to give way and the city to flood. The walls extending only ten feet deep at three major breach sites also contributed to these failures. According to levee investigator Dr. Robert Bea, all of this mess could have been prevented if the design firm responsible for the levees followed correct procedures in calculating safety factors for the floodwalls (“2005 Levee Failures”, 2012). If the civil engineers that designed these walls had been more cautious, a large part of the destruction of this hurricane could have been prevented. According to RMS vice president Laurie Johnson, about half of the economic damages were caused by flooding, which could have been prevented for the most part with more caution (“Katrina damage”, 2005). Most importantly, a huge portion of the casualties caused by Katrina could have been prevented with a little more attention to detail on the part of engineers.
Conclusion
As you can see, Hurricane Katrina is a perfect example of a scientific, business, and engineering disaster. Considering Katrina was a hurricane that caused much destruction to the environment, it was a scientific disaster. Due to the widespread economic damage done and the effect it had on Louisiana’s work force, it was a business disaster. Katrina is simultaneously a man-made and engineering disaster, considering much of the damage could have been prevented with more caution on the part of civil engineers. As stated earlier, disasters are often the result of inappropriately managed risk. If the risks involved with this disaster were more appropriately managed, Katrina may have been just another hurricane.
References
2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans (2012, September 28). Wikipedia. Retrieved October
18, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_levee_failures_in_Greater_New_Orleans Disaster (2012, October 18). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster Hurricane Katrina (2012, September 28). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina Katrina damage estimate hits $125 billion (2005, September 9). USA Today. Retrieved October
18, 2012, from
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/economy/2005-09-09-katrina-damage_x.htm?csp=34
Abstract
This paper examines the costliest natural disaster in United States history that is Hurricane Katrina. This paper explains how Hurricane Katrina classifies as a scientific, business, and engineering disaster. More importantly, this paper investigates the engineering component of Katrina and describes what could have been done within this field to prevent the majority of the economic damage done.
Introduction
A disaster is “a natural or man-made hazard resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment.” (“Disaster”, 2012) According to this definition, Hurricane Katrina is …show more content…
a prime example of a disaster. Considering Hurricane Katrina caused at least one hundred twenty-five billion dollars in economic damage (“Katrina damage”, 2005), it classifies as a business disaster. Being that Katrina was a hurricane that had a negative effect on the environment, it classifies as a scientific disaster. However, much of the economic damage done by this scientific disaster could have been prevented if more attention was paid to the New Orleans levee system, making it an engineering disaster. Disasters are often the result of inappropriately managed risk (“Disaster”, 2012). Such is the case with Hurricane Katrina, as up to fifty percent of the economic damage incurred could have been prevented had the risks associated with the levees been more appropriately managed (“Katrina damage”, 2005).
Overview
On August 23, 2005, Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas and quickly made its way over Southern Florida.
As it made its way westward over the Gulf of Mexico, the storm strengthened from a Category 1 hurricane to a Category 5. Although it caused much destruction along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas, the majority of the damage was done to Southeast Louisiana. By the time the hurricane made its landfall in Louisiana, the storm had calmed to a Category 3 (“Hurricane Katrina”, 2012). However, due to inadequate design of the levees and floodwalls protecting Louisiana, the hurricane caused over fifty failures in the levees. Tens of billions of gallons of water emerged from these breaches, flooding eighty percent of New Orleans and one hundred percent of Saint Bernard Parish (“2005 Levee Failures”, 2012). Over eighteen hundred people, with the large majority of them from Louisiana, were killed because of this disaster, making Katrina the deadliest United States hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane (“Hurricane Katrina”, …show more content…
2012).
Implications
Hurricane Katrina is by far the costliest United States Atlantic hurricane, with one hundred eight billion in property damages alone.
Hurricane Katrina caused an interruption in the oil supply, destroying thirty oil platforms and closing nine refineries. The foresting industry also took a major hit, considering 1.3 million acres of forest were destroyed. Due to the extensive flooding and property damage, hundreds of thousands of local residents were left unemployed and had no choice but to relocate from the Gulf Coast (“Hurricane Katrina”, 2012). Although the greatest damage inflicted by Katrina was economic, the environment took a hit as well. Hurricane Katrina caused significant beach erosion and land transformation, devastating coastal ecosystems. Not only this, but the hurricane caused oil spills from forty-four different facilities in Southeastern Louisiana (“Hurricane Katrina”,
2012).
Engineering Failure
Much of the economic and environmental damage caused by Hurricane Katrina could have been prevented. New Orleans is surrounded by a system of levees and floodwalls meant to protect the city from flooding. Unfortunately, due to inadequate design and construction by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, multiple levee failures were reported starting August 29, 2005. The most serious failures took place on the Industrial Canal, the 17th Street Canal (see Figure1), and the London Avenue Canal (“2005 Levee Failures”, 2012). Further investigation revealed two main causes for these catastrophic failures that left New Orleans in a state of destruction:
1. Civil engineers responsible for the design of the levees and floodwalls overestimated the strength of the soil surrounding them (“2005 Levee Failures”, 2012).
2. The floodwalls on the 17th Street, London Avenue, and Industrial canals extended only ten feet below sea level, seven feet shallower than they were supposed to (“2005 Levee Failures”, 2012).
Due to the inaccurate estimations of soil strength, the soil beneath the levees was actually weaker than the soil used in the l-wall design. When the hurricane struck, the weak soil combined with massive amounts of water and pressure caused the walls to give way and the city to flood. The walls extending only ten feet deep at three major breach sites also contributed to these failures. According to levee investigator Dr. Robert Bea, all of this mess could have been prevented if the design firm responsible for the levees followed correct procedures in calculating safety factors for the floodwalls (“2005 Levee Failures”, 2012). If the civil engineers that designed these walls had been more cautious, a large part of the destruction of this hurricane could have been prevented. According to RMS vice president Laurie Johnson, about half of the economic damages were caused by flooding, which could have been prevented for the most part with more caution (“Katrina damage”, 2005). Most importantly, a huge portion of the casualties caused by Katrina could have been prevented with a little more attention to detail on the part of engineers.
Conclusion
As you can see, Hurricane Katrina is a perfect example of a scientific, business, and engineering disaster. Considering Katrina was a hurricane that caused much destruction to the environment, it was a scientific disaster. Due to the widespread economic damage done and the effect it had on Louisiana’s work force, it was a business disaster. Katrina is simultaneously a man-made and engineering disaster, considering much of the damage could have been prevented with more caution on the part of civil engineers. As stated earlier, disasters are often the result of inappropriately managed risk. If the risks involved with this disaster were more appropriately managed, Katrina may have been just another hurricane.
References
2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans (2012, September 28). Wikipedia. Retrieved October
18, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_levee_failures_in_Greater_New_Orleans Disaster (2012, October 18). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster Hurricane Katrina (2012, September 28). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina Katrina damage estimate hits $125 billion (2005, September 9). USA Today. Retrieved October
18, 2012, from
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/economy/2005-09-09-katrina-damage_x.htm?csp=34