The Hurricane: Economic Implications Of Hurricane Katrina (Essay Sample)

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Hurricanes
Hurricanes refer to tropical cyclones that comprise of maximum wind speeds of 120 kilometers per hour and over at the center. In these weather systems, the wind typically rotates in a counter-clockwise manner in places with low atmospheric pressure. Hurricanes are typical in the Atlantic, Pacific, the Philippines, Australia and some regions of the Indian Ocean. Hurricanes acquire their names for easy identification. This report will analyze the impact of the Hurricane Katrina.
Formation of Hurricanes
Hurricanes require optimum atmospheric conditions comprising of warm temperatures that exceed 25 degrees Celsius, high relative humidity, atmospheric instability, and regions located between 4 and 5 degrees of the latitude from the equator (Rodger, 2007).
The Hurricane Katrina
The Hurricane Katrina is one of the biggest hurricanes to hit the United States in terms of cost and as such takes a spot among the five most deadly hurricanes in the world. In terms of intensity, it has the third spot after the Labor Day hurricane and the Hurricane Camille. The hurricane Katrina killed 1,250 people and the subsequent floods created more damaging to the environment. The total worth of property damaged by the hurricane was 110 billion dollars.
This storm started at the Bahamas on 23 August 2005 after the tropical waves and the remains of the Tropical Depression Ten mingled. On 24 August 2005, the newly formed depression gained strength to form the Tropical storm Katrina. The wind system proceeded westwards to Florida and later intensified in strength as it made landfills in Hallandale and Aventura.
This storm caused extreme damages on the Gulf Coast from Central Florida all the way to Texas. Much of the damage emerged because of the storm surge and failures of the levees. The hurricane caused major floods on the Mississippi beach towns where boats collided with buildings and structures and in some cases uprooting houses and cars inland. During the incident, the water went as far as 19 kilometers from the shores. The main cause of deaths resulted from the failure of hurricane surge protection that caused submersion of 85% of the city in water for days.
Impacts of the Hurricane Katrina
This hurricane caused the destructi...