Hurrican Katrina :: Natural Disasters

Hurricane Katrina is one of the most powerful storms ever to threaten the United States for the past 100 years. It is the third most powerful hurricane to make landfall in the United States. The duration of the storm was from August 23 through August 31, 2005. The storm had a short period of time but its damages were so tragic that left long term damages (Figure 1). As shown in figure 2 you can see that on August 23rd Hurricane Katrina at first seems to be just a tropical depression in southeastern Bahamas. Then the tropical depression turned into a tropical storm on August 24th. During the afternoon it made landfall in south Florida with stronger winds and it turned into a category 1 (wind speeds of 75mph or greater) hurricane on August 25th. Hurricane Katrina strengthened and the worst was about to begin. (NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, 2005) On August 26th atmospheric and sea-surface conditions were contributing to cyclone's rapid growth that lead to Katrina attaining major hurricane status (Figure 3 and 4). Katrina continues to strengthen and move northwards. Katrina had sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h) in which the storm was labeled as a category 5 (Figure 5) hurricane. A category 5 hurricane is the most intense type of hurricane. As a category 5 hurricane Katrina continue to cause damages to many states for five days. (NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, 2005) Hurricane Katrina caused extensive damages along the central Gulf Coast states of the U.S. It affected cities such as New Orleans, Bahamas, South Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Hurricane Katrina caused damages of about $100+ billion and this is the most costly tropical cyclone of all time. It killed about 1,383 people and it can potentially be more. The Hurricane also left millions of people homeless and without anything to look forward to. Many people lost their homes, some their family and friends, and everything they own. The impact of Katrina's force will need weeks and months of recovery efforts to restore normality. We hope that the U.S does not have to face another hurricane like Katrina in a very long time. (Wikipedia, 2005) The rising sea and violent winds thrashing through the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama was not the only thing responsible for the damages that the Hurricane Katrina left behind. The area's natural environment had human-made changes that increased the effects of the storm; giving it the opportunity to become one of the largest natural disasters in the nation's history.