hurricane+katrina

=Introduction=

Hurricane Katrina was one of the biggest events the Southeastern side of the United States had ever seen. It occurred August 29, 2005 at 8 am. It was a tropical storm that started off rising in the Caribbean, south of the Bahamas. After it hit the Bahamas it went to Florida, Eastern Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi, Alabama and New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina created landfall on the Gulf Coast. This event lead to over 1,836 deaths. Approximately 275,000 homes were destroyed and lost. The total cost in damages was over 110 million dollars. There were people without homes for over three weeks, causing the Government to give 1000 dollar visa cards to everyone whose home was destroyed. This goes down in our history books as the biggest hurricanes in history; Hurricane Katrina will never be forgotten. =Synopsis=

Hurricane Katrina was the sixth strongest hurricane ever recorded and the third strongest to make landfall in the U.S. It had a huge affect on everyone, not only the people who were affected by it but for the United States Government. Mr. George Bush did not know what to do at the time. This lead to the media bombarding with question after question. Although he did do the best he could, there were several thousand people that did not get saved. A key part in our presidents try to save everyone In New Orleans he issued an evacuation plan. This was a particularly crucial part to saving peoples lives because the Storm Surge Zone was below sea level (up to six feet in some places). Its levies were only designed for a Category 3 and Katrina was a Category 4 and had winds exceeding 140 miles an hour. Over 80% of New Orleans was under water, up to 20 feet deep in places. "Before the hurricane, the region supported approximately one million non-farm jobs, with 600,000 of them in New Orleans, but hundreds of thousands of local residents were left unemployed by the hurricane. More than 70 countries pledged monetary donations or other assistance. Kuwait made the largest single pledge of $500 million, but Qatar, India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh made very large donations as well. =What We Learned=

The affects and impact of Hurricane Katrina were heard world round and were long lasting. The United States learned a valuable lesson, as our president did as well. The devastation did not reach across racial and class lines equally. The majority of the people who were affected were African Americans. George bush did not take the proper precautions he should have taken. Although he tried, he left many people homeless and without food for nearly three weeks. There was a review on the [|federally built flood protection] system which studies show should have been able to protect people from the wrath of Katrina. Experts agree that it was poorly manged and used. Also our levies were not built strong enough to hold off the flooding. This lead to the use of the [|Louisiana Superdome], which in fact was a last resort. Sadly many who remained in their homes and tried to stick it out had to swim for their lives or remain trapped in their attics or on their rooftops. It was amazing that one single Hurricane could affect our economy, population, and not to mention politics .