Hurricane Katrina

HURRICANE KATRINA
Tamera Wyatt

English 101
Professor Patrick
August 5, 2010


Hurricane Katrina was the costliest north Atlantic tropical cyclone ever. Which hit the gulf coast region of United States on August 28th, 2005? Several people lost their lives and many were left homeless. The environmental damage and severe threats to public health were other outcomes of Hurricane Katrina. It was recorded as the sixth strongest hurricane till date. Among the affected areas, most severe devastation occurred in New Orleans, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The severe devastating effects of hurricane Katrina were incurred mostly due to flooding. In general, hurricanes cause little economic effects that too in the areas where the hurricanes hit directly. Considering this, hurricane Katrina was different from the prior incidents of hurricanes. According to the Bureau of Economic (BEA) “the overall economic impact of hurricane Katrina was estimated to be about 150 billion dollars, which was the priciest natural disaster in the United States history”. Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005. It was upgraded to a tropical storm status on August 24, from where it moved to Florida as a moderate category 1 hurricane. After having gradually weekend over land. It gained intensity as it moved to the Gulf of Mexico. It grew from a category 3 hurricane to a category 5 hurricane with winds of 160 mph on August 28th causing severe damage along the gulf coast due to the storm surge. The pressure measurement recorded Katrina as the fourth most intense hurricane sure passed later by hurricane Rita and Wilma. The early hours of august 29, 2005 saw the storm weakening and it was classified as a category 4 storm. Moving slowly at 12 mph with winds blowing at 155 mph, Katrina caused far greater damage than a fast moving storm would have done.
A primary reason for the great loss of life and property in New Orleans was the failure of the levee system design flaws and... [continues]

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