Recent Hurricanes: Hurricane Katrina (Essay Sample)

Hurricane Katrina
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Hurricane Katrina was the most costly natural disaster and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the United States history. Hurricane Katrina is currently ranked as the third most intense land falling tropical cyclones in the United States after Hurricane Camille in 1969 and the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane. The storm started over the Bahamas on 23rd August 2005 and headed westward towards Florida gaining strength and making land folds. Hurricane Katrina lasted for approximately eight days from 23rd August to 31st 2005 (Brown, 2015). The hurricane majorly impacted on seven states, namely; Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Ohio. Hurricane Katrina significantly affected the earth, caused millions of dollars worth of property and incurred one of the highest death tolls.
Ten years later after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and New Orleans; it is still not certain how many people died. There are still no memorial listings of the names of the people who died in the storm. There is no way of knowing how many people remain unaccounted for. The storm killed fourteen people in Florida, 1 in Kentucky, 238 in Mississippi, 2 in Alabama, 2 in Georgia, 2 in Ohio and 1,577 in Louisiana. However, in Louisiana, 135 people were categorized as missing and the exact cause of many fatalities remain unknown. The total death toll is estimated at 1836 people. Many deaths were categorized as indirect. A report presented by the Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness showed that approximately 966 deaths were directly associated with the hurricane in Louisiana (Price, 2013). The report also indicated another 20 deaths were indirect.
Hurricane Katrina is reported to be the most destructive storm to hit the United States. The storm is the most costly in the history of the United States. 108 billion dollars worth of damages was reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). State wise, the damage in south Florida was around 523 million dollars most of it due to crop damage. There was severe destruction in the Gulf Coast mostly due to storm surge and levee failure. In coastal areas there was severe property damage with over 90% of property flooded (Price, 2013). Boats rammed into buildings pushing houses and cars inland. In New Orleans 80% of the city was flooded with flood waters lingering for weeks. In the same city, the storm caused breaches in drainage and navigational canals. Breaches in flood walls caused the majority of the flooding. Oil production was halted and oil prices increased worldwide. Destruction of electricity poles also resulted from the hurricane. Many people were exposed to an electricity blackout across the states hit by hurricane Katrina.
Hurricane Katrina also caused a number of effects on the earth and the environment also. Such effects include oil spillage, contamination of clean waters with sewage, destruction of crops and floods. Large amounts of raw oil made its way to New Orleans. Moreover, oil spills from coastal refineries, offshore rigs and gas stations also managed to reach residential areas in New Orleans. Analytical reports have indicated that oil gallons estimated at seven million spilled across the affected region (Price, 2013). A significant amount of raw and industrial sewage also contaminated the clean waters. Consequently, the floods caused soil erosion and landslides leading to destruction of crops and also trees. Heavy metals, household waste, pesticides and other toxic metals were all part of the mixture of raw sewage that greatly polluted the water sources and the environment at large.
Currently, the United States is still fixing the effects left behind by the Hurricane. Emphasize are mostly put on plugging levee leaks, repairing sewage systems, clearing debris and also repairing water and drainage systems. Long-term solutions are being put into place so as to return the states affected by the hurricane back on their feet. Hurricane Katrina was predicted in an excellent time frame. The problem however lied on the constructions of the levee. The engineers responsible used weak construction materials in order to save on the coast. The right measures are being taken to ensure that the right construct...