The Damage Of Hurricane Katrina

On August 23, 2005, Katrina was formed merely as a tropical storm that the people of the United States thought wouldn’t do any damage. On August 28, 2005, cities in southern Louisiana and Mississippi started to demand a mandatory evacuation, but numerous people were stranded with no form of transportation or anywhere to go. Thousands were left waiting to see if Katrina would really strike as the weather stations had predicted. “That day, the National Weather Service predicted that after the storm hit, ‘most of the [Gulf Coast] area will be uninhabitable for weeks…perhaps longer’” (History.com 1). “For example, some 112,000 of New Orleans’ nearly 500,000 people did not have access to a car” (History.com 1). “By nightfall, almost 80 percent of
the city’s population had evacuated” (History.com 1). Most people in Louisiana used the Superdome stadium as a safer shelter than their homes. On August 29, 2005, an awful disaster, named Hurricane Katrina, devastated the Gulf Coast. “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” (History.com 1). Hurricane Katrina has been estimated to have caused over one hundred billion dollars worth of damage. The havoc that Hurricane Katrina wreaked on everyone, even my family, is almost unexplainable, physically and emotionally. As a six year old little girl, I remember seeing news show after news show report about Hurricane Katrina. I remember seeing the death total rise day by day during the search for the missing people. Almost two thousand people died from this horrific event. “Forty percent of people who died in Hurricane Katrina died by drowning” (Bigard 43). America never thought that this hurricane would strike the Gulf Coast. The Gulf Coast became so flooded that people had to sit on their roofs or in the attics just to escape the water. “Eventually, nearly 80 percent of the city was under some quantity of water” (History.com 1). The poverty levels have risen since Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana and Mississippi, especially in New Orleans. “Before the storm, the city’s population was mostly black (about 67 percent); moreover, nearly 30 percent of its people lived in poverty” (History.com 1). Thousands became homeless as a result of the hurricane and still are due to it.
I can remember wondering and worrying about whether or not the military would deploy to help with the damage from this powerful, awful storm.
I can easily recall the memories of my uncle later on being deployed and my dad going on trips to work. I can without difficulty think back to the stories that my uncle told me about being deployed to help. He had to leave early from deployment because it was that horrid of a scene. He explained the gruesome scene and how awful it was to clean up the bodies and search for the missing people. “The Coast Guard, for instance, rescued some 34,000 people in New Orleans alone, and many ordinary citizens commandeered boats, offered food and shelter, and did whatever else they could to help their neighbors” (History.com 1). My family never knew when we would hear from, see, or get a letter from my uncle. Thankfully, he did not stay long. My dad also went to work on the damage caused due to this disaster. He left only a few days after Hurricane Katrina to depart to Biloxi to work on the damage caused there. My dad worked to repair the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems within the
buildings.
When I was five years old, my family, along with my uncle and his wife, took a trip to Biloxi to see the beautiful, magnificent houses that bordered the beachfront road and explore the amazing history of the small town. I remember seeing this one casino and gazing at the jellyfish as they tangled in a large group below us at the ocean’s surface. I remember the beautiful, white, sandy beaches with the gorgeous, blue ocean water. There was never a single spot left on the beach for anyone to join in. Hotels were always full and hardly ever had any vacancy. It was one of the most breathtaking sunsets I have ever seen in my life. Years later when I revisited, none of this existed anymore. There was not a single piece of the gorgeous houses left. In fact, if you didn’t know they were there before, it would have seemed as if nothing had ever existed there. The beautiful, blue water was no longer clear or blue. What was left in its shadow was disgusting, green water. The swarming crowds of people no longer floated along the beach. What was once a stunning, flourishing city is now a vacant town.
Overall, Hurricane Katrina was a really demoralizing event that struck that the Gulf Coast and caused billions of dollars in damage.
This horrific occurrence has affected the United States of America. Katrina not only caused physical damage but also emotional damage. Even though some people were evacuated on August 28th, not all people had left. This caused many to experience loss of their loved ones. Katrina killed almost two thousand people and affected around ninety thousand square miles of the United States Gulf Coast. People became scattered thousands of miles away due to relocation from the evacuation. My family went through the emotional damage of this event, due to my uncle having to be deployed for the devastation that this traumatizing experience and my dad having to deal with the
workload.