Hurricane Katrina

'Bold text'Bold text

This article is about the 2005 hurricane. For other storms with this name, see Hurricane Katrina (disambiguation).

{{Infobox hurricane | name=Hurricane Katrina }

Hurricane Katrina was one of the most destructive and expensive tropical cyclones to ever hit the United States. On August 25 2005, it struck Florida as a Category 1 storm, killing thirteen and causing severe damage. It then entered the Gulf of Mexico and strengthened into an incredible Category 5 storm with maximum sustained windspeeds of 175 mph (280 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 902 mb, the fourth lowest ever observed in the Atlantic basin. It then turned towards New Orleans, Louisiana, causing the first mandatory evacuation in that city's history. It weakened to a Category 4 storm and turned slightly just before landfall in Louisiana, still the third most intense storm to strike the country, causing massive damage to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. A day after the storm passed, portions of the levee system in New Orleans failed, flooding most of the city (which lies mostly below sea level) and causing even more damage and death.

Current estimates place the death toll place in the thousands, and the damage is expected to surpass Hurricane Andrew as the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history. Furthermore, more than a million people are known to have been displaced — a humanitarian crisis on a scale unseen in the U.S. since the Great Depression.

Federal disaster declarations blanketed 90,000 square miles (233,000 km²) of the United States, an area almost as large as the United Kingdom. The hurricane left an estimated five million people without power, and it may be up to two months before all power is restored. On September 3 2005, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as "probably the worst catastrophe, or set of catastrophes" in the country's history, referring to the hurricane itself plus the flooding of New Orleans.

Storm development

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a lucid statement on August 23 saying that Tropical Depression Twelve had formed over the southeastern Bahamas. The numbering of the system was debated, as Tropical Depression Twelve formed partially from the remains of Tropical Depression Ten. The naming and numbering rules at the NHC require a system to keep the same identity if it dies, then regenerates, which would normally have caused this storm to remain numbered Ten. However, the NHC gave this storm a new number because a second disturbance merged with the remains of Tropical Depression Ten on August 20, and there is no way to tell whether the remnants of T.D. Ten should be credited with this storm. (This is different from Hurricane Ivan in the 2004 season, when the NHC ruled that Ivan did indeed reform; the remnant of Ivan that regenerated in the Gulf of Mexico was a distinct system from the moment Ivan originally dissipated to the moment it regained tropical storm strength[1].) The system was upgraded to Tropical Storm Katrina on the morning of August 24. Katrina became the fourth hurricane of the 2005 season on August 25 and made landfall later that day around 6:30 p.m. between Hallandale Beach and Aventura, Florida.

On August 27, the storm was upgraded to category 3 intensity (major hurricane) and at 12:40 a.m. CDT (0540 UTC) on August 28, Katrina was upgraded to Category 4. Later that morning, Katrina went through a period of rapid intensification, with its maximum sustained winds strengthening to 175 mph (280 km/h) (well above the Category 5 threshold of 156 mph (250 km/h)), gusts of 215 mph (344 km/h) and central pressure of 906 mbar (hPa) by 1:00 p.m. CDT. It later reached a minimum pressure of 902 mbar (hPa), making it the fourth most intense Atlantic Basin hurricane on record. The storm weakened slightly just before landfall on August 29 as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 145 mph at 6:10 a.m. CDT near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana. A few hours later, it made landfall for a third time near the Louisiana/Mississippi border with 125 mph (200 km/h) Category 3 winds. Katrina weakened thereafter, losing hurricane-strength more than 100 miles (160 km) inland, near Laurel, Mississippi. It was downgraded to a tropical depression near Clarksville, Tennessee and continued to race northward.

Katrina, which affected a very wide swath of land covering a large portion of eastern North America, was last seen in the eastern Great Lakes region on August 31. Before being absorbed by the frontal boundary, Katrina's last known position was over southeast Quebec and northern New Brunswick.

Its lowest minimum pressure at landfall was 918 mbar (hPa), making it the third strongest hurricane on record to make landfall on the United States. A 15 to 30 foot (5 to 9 m) storm surge came ashore on virtually the entire coastline from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to Florida. The 30 foot (10 m) storm surge recorded at Biloxi, Mississippi is the highest ever observed in America.

At 11 p.m. EDT on August 31 (0300 UTC, September 1), U.S. government weather officials announced that the center of the remnant low of what was Katrina had been completely absorbed by a frontal boundary in southeastern Canada, with no discernible circulation. The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center's last public advisory on Katrina was at 11 p.m. EDT Wed 31 August 2005 and the Canadian Hurricane Centre's last public advisory on Katrina was at 8 a.m. EDT Wed 31 August 2005.

Tornadoes

There were tornado reports near Adams and Cumberland Counties in Pennsylvania, in Fauquier, Virginia, in Atlanta, Georgia, in Carroll County, Georgia, in Carrollton, Georgia, in White County, Georgia, in Helen, Georgia, in Ft.Valley, Georgia, and in Mobile, Alabama. No deaths were reported from the tornadoes, but several injuries were reported in Georgia. 500,000 chickens were killed or set free after dozens of poultry houses were damaged in Carroll County, Georgia. There was major damage in Helen, Georgia, destroying homes and a hotel. A bank and several homes were damaged in Ft.Valley, Georgia.

Historical context

Comparisons

By hurricane intensity

Katrina was the third most intense hurricane to hit the United States in recorded history. In the Atlantic Basin it achieved the status of the fourth lowest central pressure ever recorded.

Top four most intense Atlantic hurricanes since measurements began Hurricane intensity is measured solely by central pressure, source:NOAA
North Atlantic				Landfall U.S.
Rank	Hurricane	Year	Pressure	Rank	Hurricane	Year	Pressure
1	Gilbert	1988	888 mbar (hPa)	1	Labor Day	1935	892 mbar (hPa)
2	Labor Day	1935	892 mbar (hPa)	2	Camille	1969	909 mbar (hPa)
3	Allen	1980	899 mbar (hPa)	3	Katrina	2005	918 mbar (hPa)
4	Katrina	2005	902 mbar (hPa)	4	Andrew	1992	922 mbar (hPa)
Based on data from: The Weather Channel				Based on data from: National Hurricane Center

By cost

Many estimates predict that Katrina will be the costliest storm in history to strike the United States, surpassing Hurricane Andrew which ravaged Miami-Dade County, Florida, in 1992.

By death toll

Katrina was the second-deadliest named storm to hit the US, and may be declared the deadliest when the final toll is known. Other storms that killed many people in the US include:

The Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed an estimated 6,000–12,000.
The 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane, which killed at least 2,500 people in the US and over 1,000 in Puerto Rico.
1957's Hurricane Audrey, which killed 390, with up to 160 more never accounted for.
1969's Hurricane Camille, which killed 256.

Other deadly storms include:

1970 Bhola cyclone, the deadliest tropical cyclone on record, which killed at least 150,000 and perhaps as many as half a million in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
Great Hurricane of 1780, which killed over 22,000.
1998's Hurricane Mitch, the deadliest named Atlantic storm, which killed more than 18,000 people in Central America.

Other USA hurricanes

Katrina has been compared with Hurricane Camille because both were major hurricanes which made landfall in the same general area. Katrina has also drawn comparisons to Hurricane Betsy, because of its similar track and potential effects on New Orleans. In 1965, Betsy struck New Orleans after passing over the Florida Keys, causing over $1.5 billion USD in damage in 1965 (over $9 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars), and the deaths of 75 people, earning it the nickname "Billion Dollar Betsy". However, although Betsy was nearly a Category 5 hurricane at landfall [2], it was fast moving limiting its potential for devastation, while Katrina was a slow-moving Category 4. For Katrina, some potential damage estimates exceed the $36 billion damage (in current dollars) caused by Hurricane Andrew (previously the most costly natural disaster to have struck the United States).

Hurricane Katrina is sure to be compared with the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. Like Katrina, the Galveston Hurricane landed as a category 4 storm and caused thousands of deaths. It is also likely to be compared to the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane, another category 4 storm that caused inland flooding by breaching the levees around Lake Okeechobee and also killed thousands.

Other USA city devastations/disasters

Katrina also caused the first substantial devastation of a major American city since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fires.

Other disasters in New Orleans

This is the greatest disaster in New Orleans since its founding in 1718. New Orleans has a known history of frequent and recurrent brushes with hurricanes. On average, New Orleans has been brushed every 3.94 years. Direct hurricane hits have occurred every 13.4 years.([3])

Other levee and flood disasters

No other levee breach in the USA has caused such a level of death or such an extensive evacuation. However, devastation in other parts of the world, caused by levee breaches, has been greater.

The Johnstown Flood in 1889 killed 2,200 people when the South Fork Dam burst, submerging the city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Johnstown flood was the first major peacetime relief effort for the Red Cross.
The Great Mississippi Flood along the Mississippi River in 1927–1928 killed 246 people, left approximately 700,000 homeless, and destroyed or damaged 137,000 buildings[4]
The 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane breached levees around Lake Okeechobee in southern Florida, causing flooding over hundreds of square miles and killing over 2,500.
1931 Huang He flood and following levee breaches killed millions.
The Great Flood of 1993 along the Mississippi River killed 47 people, displaced approximately 74,000, and destroyed or damaged 47,650 buildings ([5]).

Comparison to other evacuations/refugee crises

Other cities which have been evacuated are:

In 2002 severe flooding led to the evacuation of 50,000 residents of Prague, Czech Republic, on 14 August [6], with a total of 200,000 Czechs during the second August week. [7]. Also partially evacuated in the same week were the German city of Dresden (120,000 evacuees) [8] and the town Bitterfeld (16,000).

In January 2002, 300,000 residents of the city of Goma (Democratic Republic of the Congo) were evacuated in 3 days due to the eruption of the volcano Nyiragongo.[9][10][11]

In April 2001, 77,000 inhabitants (around 2/3 of the population) of the Italian city Vicenza were evacuated for several hours so that an unexploded bomb, originally dropped in World War II, could be safely disarmed. [12]

In 1999 the Kosovo War led to 800,000 refugees, not all of them urban residents, leaving Kosovo and being accommodated for up to 3 months in other parts of Europe.

In September 1939, at the outset of World War II, London and major British cities were evacuated with 1.5 million displacements in the first 3 days of the official evacuation taking place reaching a final total of 3.75 million.

In April of 1986 roughly 200,000 people were evacuated from Chernobyl following a nuclear meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union).

In November of 1979 the city of Mississauga in Canada was evacuated following a chlorine leak after a freight train derailed. 218,000 were displaced.

In October 1941 a mass evacuation of Moscow was ordered in the face of the threat of the attacking German Wehrmacht. 2 million inhabitants were displaced from the city within two weeks.

The Great Fire that resulted from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake lead to the sea evacuation from the city on 20 April of 20,000 refugees. [13]

In 480 BC the Greek officer of state and navy commander Themistocles ordered the evacuation of Athens as a strategic countermeasure to the approaching Persian army, leading to 100,000 inhabitants being displaced in the late summer.

Preparations and expectations before landfall

Previous short term preparations and expectations

Advance weather forecasts

Template:Wikinewshas

Florida had little advance warning when Katrina strengthened from a tropical storm to a hurricane in one day, and struck southern Florida later that same day, on August 25.

By August 26 the possibility of "unprecedented cataclysm" was already being considered [14]. Some computer models were putting New Orleans right in the center of their track probabilities, and the chances of a direct hit were forecast at nearly 10%. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) declares a state of emergency [15].

On August 28 the National Weather Service issued a bulletin predicting "devastating" damage rivaling the intensity of Hurricane Camille. At a news conference Mayor Nagin ordered an unprecedented mandatory evacuation of the city. Gov. Blanco, standing beside him, stated that the President called and personally appealed that this evacuation be made.

Transportation and infrastructure

On Sunday, August 28, Canadian National Railway (CN) suspended all rail traffic on its lines south of McComb, Mississippi (lines owned by its subsidiary Illinois Central Railroad that extend into New Orleans, Louisiana), in anticipation of damage from the hurricane. To help ease the resumption of services after the storm passes, CN also issued an embargo with the Association of American Railroads against all deliveries to points south of Osyka, Mississippi [16]. CSX Transportation also suspended service south of Montgomery, Alabama until further notice. The CSX (former Louisville and Nashville Railroad) main line from Mobile to New Orleans is believed to have suffered extensive damage, especially in coastal Mississippi, but repair crews were not able to reach most parts of the line as of August 30.

Amtrak, America's rail passenger carrier, announced that the southbound City of New Orleans passenger trains from Chicago, Illinois, on August 29 and through September 3 would terminate in Memphis, Tennessee, rather than their usual destination of New Orleans; the corresponding northbound trains will also originate in Memphis. The southbound Crescent from New York, New York, for the same period terminated in Atlanta, Georgia, with the corresponding northbound trains originating in Atlanta as well. Amtrak's westbound Sunset Limited originated in San Antonio, Texas, rather than its normal origin point of Orlando, Florida. Amtrak announced that no alternate transportation options would be made available into or out of the affected area [17].

The Waterford nuclear power plant was shut down on Sunday, August 28, before Katrina's arrival.

The State Departments of Transportation in the affected area, in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration, have a huge job to rebuild the critical highways for access to the region. Interstate 10 seems, at first glance, to be the most critical to repair, especially the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain, which was destroyed. These are "lifelines" to the east, but assessing the damage, there will be no quick fix. These costs could run into many billions of dollars.

Previous long term preparations and expectations

The risk of devastation from a direct hit was well documented. The New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper ran a series on the risk. "It's only a matter of time before South Louisiana takes a direct hit from a major hurricane. Billions have been spent to protect us, but we grow more vulnerable every day." New Orleans Times-Picayune June 23 - 27 June 2002 [18] (cited by 'Wall Street Journal Online, by Joe Hagan, 31 August 2005, p. A5). National Geographic ran a feature in October 2004 [19]. Scientific American covered the topic thoroughly in an October 2001 piece titled "Drowning New Orleans" [20]. Walter Williams did a serious short feature on it called "New Orleans: The Natural History", in which an expert said a direct hit by a hurricane could damage the city for six months [21]. CSO magazine ran an interview with the National Weather Service's Gary Woodall in which he listed six steps that citizens and company executives can take to be prepared for hurricanes such as this. [22]

See also: Levee funding issues

Evacuation

At a news conference 10 a.m. on August 28, shortly after Katrina was upgraded to a Category 5 storm, New Orleans mayor C. Ray Nagin, calling Katrina "a storm that most of us have long feared," ordered the first ever mandatory evacuation of the city. Roughly 150,000 people did not obey the order to evacuate. It is likely that a significant percentage of those who did not evacuate were unable, rather than unwilling, to do so, as about one fifth of the population does not own a car. In addition to residents, many tourists were stranded: fuel and rental cars were in short supply, and Greyhound bus and Amtrak train service were halted well before the hurricane made landfall.[23] Future analysis of Motor Vehicle Registration, Census and Social Security Information, and Death Certificates may help to provide more clarity. During the Hurricane Ivan evacuation, 600,000 people remained in the city. [24]

Mandatory evacuations were also ordered for Assumption, Jefferson (Kenner, Metairie, as well as Grand Isle and other low lying areas), Lafourche (outside the floodgates), Plaquemines, St. Charles and St. James parishes and parts of Tangipahoa and Terrebonne parishes in Louisiana.

In Alabama, evacuations were ordered for parts of Mobile and Baldwin counties (including Gulf Shores). In Mississippi, evacuations were ordered for parts of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties.

Louisiana Superdome

Nagin established several "refuges of last resort" for citizens who could not leave the city, including the massive Louisiana Superdome, which housed over 9,000 people along with 550 National Guard troops when Katrina came ashore [25]. A National Guard official said on Thursday, September 1, that as many as 60,000 people had gathered at the Superdome for evacuation, having remained there in increasingly difficult circumstances [26], [27], [28]. Air conditioning, electricity, and running water all failed, making for very unsanitary and uncomfortable conditions. There have been reports alleging suicide, rape, and crack dealing in the Superdome, although the authenticity of these reports have yet to be verified.[29] On August 31, 2005, it was announced that refugees would be moved to the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. By September 6, the Superdome was completely evacuated. Officials say that the flood damage and human waste in the Superdome is a "potential biohazard", and that it is too early to tell what the final fate of the structure will be, although demolition has been cited as a possible outcome.

New Orleans Convention Center

The New Orleans Convention Center was also opened up to evacuees, but by Thursday, September 1, the facility, like the Superdome, was overwhelmed and declared unsafe and unsanitary. Reports of violence, beatings, and rape among those gathered in the convention center were widespread. Several people died while sheltered within. Reports indicated that up to 20,000 people had gathered at the Convention Center, many dropped off after rescue from flooded areas of the city. Others were directed to the center by police as a possible refuge. However, even though there were thousands of evacuees at the center, FEMA claimed to have no knowledge of the use of the Convention Center as a shelter until the afternoon of September 1. The Convention Center was completely evacuated by September 3.

Shelters in Texas

On August 31, 2005, the Harris County, Texas Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the State of Louisiana came to an agreement to allow at least 25,000 refugees from New Orleans, especially those who were sheltered in the Louisiana Superdome, to move to the Astrodome until they could return home. The evacuation began on September 1.

However, as of September 2, officials declared the Reliant Astrodome full and unable to accept additional hurricane refugees from the disaster. The Reliant Astrodome was reopened a few hours later, and it was announced that the Reliant Center would have all events cancelled through December so as to open the building to ~11,000 additional refugees. The George R. Brown Convention Center was announced as an additional shelter site at the same time, but was not opened for use until September 3.

When the Houston shelters began to reach capacity on September 2, Texas Governor Rick Perry activated an emergency plan that made space for an additional 25,000 in each of San Antonio and the Dallas/ Fort Worth/ Arlington,TX Metroplex and smaller shelters in communities across Texas. Begining with a convoy of 50 buses (2,700 people) that arrived at the Dallas Reunion Arena at 3:00am CST September 3, a wave of over 120,000 additional evacuees began pouring into Texas at a rate, such that as of September 5, it was estimated there are roughly 139,000 evacuees in official shelters in the state, adding to the estimated 90,000 already in hotels and homes.

By the afternoon of September 5, with a total estimated number of over 230,000 evacuees in Texas, Governor Perry ordered that buses begin being deverted to other shelters outside the state resulting in 10,000 being sent to Oklahoma and 7,500 being sent to Arkansas. By Labor Day, September 6,2005, Texas had an estimated 250,000 evacuees and Governor Perry was forced to declare a state of emergency in Texas and issued an empassioned plea to other states to begin taking the 40,000-50,000 evacuees that were still in need of shelter.

Local effects and aftermath

Areas affected include southern Florida, Louisiana (especially the Greater New Orleans area), Mississippi, Alabama, the western Florida Panhandle, western and north Georgia were affected by tornadoes, the Tennessee Valley and Ohio Valley regions, the eastern Great Lakes region and the length of the western Appalachians. Over 300 deaths have been reported in seven states, a number which is expected to rise as casualty reports come in from areas currently inaccessible. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin estimates hundreds, and as many as thousands, are feared dead. Three levees in New Orleans gave way, and 80% of the city was under water at peak flooding, which in some places was 20 to 25 feet (7 or 8 meters) deep[30]. As of September 6, the flood pool had abated to covering 60% of the city.[31]

By September 2, NOAA had published satellite photography[32] of many of the affected regions. Hurricane Katrina will go down in history as the most devastating hurricane ever to hit the United States, surpassing the devastation of Hurricane Andrew.

Death toll (summary)

Template:Hurricane Katrina death toll

The unconfirmed death toll reported in various regions is given in the chart to the right. These are confirmed deaths from local news agencies.

Direct deaths indicate those caused by the direct effects of the winds, flooding, storm surge or oceanic effects of Katrina. Indirect deaths indicate those caused by hurricane-related accidents (including car accidents), fires or other incidents, as well as clean-up incidents and health issues.

File:R1422419068.jpg

However, the projected death toll may be much higher especially in New Orleans. But efforts are presently focused on rescue and restoring order, rather than recovery of the dead. On 31 August, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin told reporters that the hurricane probably killed thousands of people in the city [33].

This view was confirmed on September 1 by U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu who said "We understand there are thousands of dead people" [34].

In a press conference broadcast live on 4WWL at 1915 UTC on September 1 Governor Kathleen Blanco said that thousands of deaths were believed to have occurred in New Orleans. The FEMA representative said that they have brought in a deployable morgue. On September 3 US Senator David Vitter (R-LA) said that the death toll from Hurricane Katrina could top 10,000 in Louisiana alone. "My guess is that it will start at 10,000, but that is only a guess," Vitter said.

On September 6th FEMA stopped allowing journalists to accompany rescuers searching for victims, saying they would take up too much space. At the same time, FEMA requested that journalists stop taking pictures of dead bodies. [35]

Health concerns

Aside from the lack of water, food, shelter, and sanitation facilities, there is growing concern that the prolonged flooding will lead to an outbreak of health problems for those who remain in the hurricane-affected areas. In addition to dehydration and food poisoning, there is also a potential for communicable disease outbreaks of diarrhea and respiratory illness, all related to the growing contamination of food and drinking water supplies in the area. The longer these people are stranded in the searing heat the more will perish from the aforementioned causes.

President Bush declared a public health emergency for the entire Gulf Coast and Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt announced that the DHHS will be setting up a network of 40 medical shelters to speed the relief efforts. Before the hurricane, government health officials prepared to respond, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began sending medical emergency supplies to locations near the worst-hit area within 48 hours after landfall.

Supplies shipped by CDC provided pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, cots, and treatment capacity for citizens otherwise stranded by the hurricane's catastrophic effect on hospital infrastructure in Louisiana and Mississippi. CDC teams became temporary stand-ins for hospitals, medical supply warehouses, and distribution facilities damaged by the storm, and CDC support remained crucial until normal infrastructure support began to return a week and a half later.

Within days after landfall, medical authorities established contingency treatment facilities for over 10,000 people, and plans to treat thousands more were developing. Partnerships with commercial medical suppliers, shipping companies, and support services companies insured that evolving medical needs could be met within days or even hours.

There is concern the chemical plants and refineries in the area could have released their contents into the flood waters. People who suffer from allergies or lung disorders, such as asthma, will have health complications due to toxic mold and airborne irritants. In Gulfport, Mississippi, several hundred tons of chicken and uncooked shrimp were washed out of their containers at the nearby harbor and could have contaminated the water table. On September 6th, 2005 it was reported that E. Coli had been detected in the waters that flooded New Orleans. The CDC reported on September 7 that five people had died of bacterial infection from drinking water contaminated with the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, a bacteria from the Gulf of Mexico [36]. Wide outbreaks of severe infectious diseases such as cholera and dysentery are not considered likely because such illnesses are not endemic in the United States [37].

Animal concerns

Helicopter pilots and rescue boat captains have refused to load pets in order to hold more humans. Many families in the affected area refused to evacuate without their pets. Some field hospitals allowed pets to enter with their patients. However those who were evacuated from the Superdome were not allowed to take their pets with them.[38]

Rescue teams were set up in the worst-hit regions in response to desperate pleas from pet owners. Horses posed a particular problem, as they are easily stranded and cannot stand up in water for great lengths of time. Rescue agencies are setting up shelters and finding homes to adopt pets who were lost by their owners.[39] Rescue centers were becoming overwhelmed in the days immediately following the hurricane. Online resources, such as the animals911.com clearinghouse for Hurricane Katrina animal rescue and relief[40], give rescue groups, individuals, and businesses from around the country a centralized venue to publish their offers and requests for helping the animals displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

There was some good news. Due to a good disaster plan and having the fortune to be situated on high ground, the famous Audubon zoo lost only 3 animals out of a total of 1,400. Zoo curator Dan Maloney said "the zoo had planned for years for the catastrophic storm that has long been predicted for New Orleans". [41] [42]

The response of the American public is unprecedented. The Humane Society (HSUS) had received $3.5 million in donations just a week after the hurricane occurred. [43]

Accusations of price gouging

Hundreds of reports have poured in to Louisiana and other authorities regarding sharp increases in prices on products like gasoline and bottled water, or of hotels failing to honor reservations in favor of accepting larger offers for rooms by desperate travelers. The three major U.S. TV networks' nightly news programs have shown images of a BP gas station selling gasoline for over $6 per gallon ($1.59/L). Another BP station in Stockbridge, Georgia, south of Atlanta, was selling gas at $5.87 per gallon ($1.55/L) within a day after Katrina hit. Gas prices in the U.S. just prior to Katrina were in the range of $2.50 per gallon ($0.66/L). During this time the average price of gas per gallon has reached a new all time high. The rapid price increase exacerbated the oil price increases of 2004 and 2005.

Disaster relief response

Some disaster recovery response to Katrina began before the storm, with Federal Emergency Management Agency preparations that ranged from logistical supply deployments to a mortuary team with refrigerated trucks. The Veterans For Peace volunteers were on the ground in Covington Louisiana as early as last Friday. A network of volunteers have been rendering assistance to local residents and residents emerging from New Orleans and surrounding Parishes.

In accordance with federal law, President George W. Bush directed Secretary Michael Chertoff of the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate the Federal response. Chertoff designated Michael D. Brown, head of the FEMA as the Principal Federal Official to lead the deployment and coordination of all federal response resources and forces in the Gulf Coast region.

USNORTHCOM established Joint Task Force (JTF) Katrina based out of Camp Shelby, Mississippi to act as the military's on-scene command on Sunday, August 28 [44]. Lieutenant General Russel Honoré of the U.S. First Army in Fort Gillem, Georgia, is the commander.

The U.S. Senate approved a bill authorizing $10.5 billion in aid for victims on September 1 2005. The U.S. House of Representatives voted and approved on the measure Friday, September 2 2005 without any debate; Bush signed it into law an hour later. On September 7, another $51 billion in additon to the original $10 billion was proposed by congress to fund disaster relief.

In addition to asking for federal funds, President Bush has enlisted the help of former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush to raise additional voluntary contributions, much as they did after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. On September 3, Gov. Blanco hired James Lee Witt, the former FEMA director during the Clinton Administration, to oversee recovery efforts in Louisiana. [45].

Outlying U.S. states response

Many U.S. states are sheltering evacuees displaced by the storm, including places as far away as Oregon and California. The majority of the evacuees from this crisis were taken to Texas, with over 230,000 persons being sheltered in Texas by Labor Day, September 5 2005. As Texas became filled to capacity, it became a waypoint for the other evacuees still leaving the area of crisis. From Texas, thousands of evacuees are being dispersed to other states.

An estimate of over 100,000 New Orleans college and university students have been displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Higher institutions from across the U.S. have opened their doors to enroll students displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina. See list compiled by Wikinews.

International response

Over 50 countries have pledged money or other assistance to recovery from the hurricane, including, inter alia, Cuba and Venezuela, despite differences with Washington; Sri Lanka, which is still recovering from the Indian Ocean Tsunami; Russia, whose initial offer to send at least two jets was declined by the U.S. State Department; France, whose initial offer of concrete help was also declined; and Dominica, one of the smallest countries in the world by any measure. [46] The Republic of Singapore too, has kindly obliged to assist in the numerous evacuation procedures through the lending of Chinook helicopters.

Non-governmental charitable response

The Red Cross, Salvation Army, and many other charitable organizations are trying to provide housing, food, and water to the victims of the storm. On September 8, 2005, FOX News reported that the Red Cross was prepositioned to provide water, food and essential supplies to the Superdome and convention center as soon as the storm finised, but was prohibited from delivering them by the Louisiana State Department of Homeland Security, under the direction of Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco. Radio station 101.9 in New York has been advertising the gov. is willing to give people a home and free money to help people with a new start in life. Mother nature made this part of Louisiana under water and tis is the way it should stay People should leave and live in a safe place before it is to late! More storm's will

come and more lives will be lost!!! Sal from New York)

God Bless all and pray

Effects outside the immediate region

Economic effects

Most experts anticipate that Katrina will be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Some early predictions in damages exceeded $100 billion, not accounting for potential catastrophic damage inland due to flooding (which would increase the total even more), or damage to the economy caused by interruption of oil supply (much of the U.S. energy operations are in the Gulf Coast region), and exports of commodities such as grain. Other predictions placed the minimum insured damage at around $12.5 billion (the insured figure is normally doubled to account for uninsured damages in the final cost). There are also effects on ocean shipping, the casino industry and tourism.

International oil prices are rising. In the UK pump prices for unleaded petrol (gas) have hit £1 per litre ($7 per US gallon) for the first time in a significant number of places (averaging about 95p), a rise of about 3% since Katrina made landfall. Wholesale prices are up 5% as of 6 September. [47]

Space Shuttle program

The hurricane has passed over the Michoud Assembly Facility and materially interrupted the production of external tanks for the Space Shuttle, leading to a further interruption of the shuttle flights [48]. Evan McCollum, a Lockheed Martin Space Systems spokesman in Denver has reported that "there is water leakage and potential water damage in the buildings, but there's no way to tell how much at this point" [49].

The Michoud Assembly Facility will remain closed until at least September 26. [50] Plans to ship three tanks -- including the one for NASA's next mission -- back to Michoud for retrofitting are on indefinite hold. The next Shuttle flight, STS-121, could be postponed to May or later during the second half of 2006 [51].

Internet

Technology for All [52] is setting up technology centers for Internet access in the Astrodome. There are also reports that SBC and T-Mobile are installing and providing free wifi access in the Astrodome. [53] Cisco, Vonage, and SBC are providing similar services at the Dallas Convention Center and Reunion Arena where another 8,000 evacuees are sheltered.

The DirectNIC (Intercosmos Media Group, [54]) data center in downtown New Orleans has so far been able to continue operations uninterrupted, due in part to the efforts of a few determined individuals. They've also worked to help procure fuel for telco providers, and provided a router for New Orleans' city hall, apparently so city officials could establish VoIP telephone service during the disaster. According to Netcraft, DirectNIC is the 11th largest domain registrar on the Internet, at 1.1 million domains. They are currently running a very popular blog that is documenting things that are happening around them, including pictures of the New Orleans aftermath, with a link to a webcam showing part of the Central Business District on Poydras St. A LiveJournal community, InterdictorNews [55] has been started for those who have been commenting in this blog. It includes FAQs about the actions of the DirectNIC team in setting up Outpost Crystal.

The effects of the storm disrupted the OC-12 Abilene Network [56] Internet2 link between Houston and Atlanta, as well as some of DirectNIC's many high-speed connections. The staff on site are working to restore more upstream connectivity, as well as Internet access to local municipal organizations.

As of September 1 2005, Sans Infocon [57] is reporting code green for Internet attacks. Keynote Internet Health Report [58] is reporting code green for select Internet networks. The Internet Traffic Report [59] was reporting code yellow for North America. Earthlink network status [60] reports that DSL is unavailable in New Orleans. Perhaps one of the more interesting sets of status information is Googling New Orleans and checking the reachability of the top 20 websites. On September 1, 25% were unreachable, 20% were impaired, and 55% remained reachable.[61] The NO Visitor's Bureau [62] reports "There is virtually total internet disruption as well, as locally hosted servers and routers have gone down with the loss of primary and backup power. Only those hotels with corporate housed servers in other cities have any internet possibility."

Cybertelecom.org has established a webpage to collect data on the status of and impact on the Internet. [63].

Political effects

As high profile news coverage has reported, the American public in general blames all levels of government for failures to perform their responsibilities in hurricane preparedness, Hurricane Katrina planning, and Hurricane Katrina aftermath.

Evacuation issues

Many critics have noted that while the local government gave a mandatory evacuation order on August 28, before the storm hit, they did not make sufficient provisions to evacuate the homeless, the poor, the elderly, the infirm, or the car-less households. Foreign nationals without transport claimed that the police refused to evacuate them, giving bus places only to American citizens.[64]

Evacuation was mainly left up to individual citizens to find their own way out of the city. It was known that many residents of New Orleans lacked cars. It is also believed that many citizens, having survived previous hurricanes, did not anticipate the impending catastrophe and chose to ride out the storm. Even so, a 2000 census revealed that 27% of New Orleans households, amounting to approximately 120,000 people, were without privately-owned transportation. Additionally, at 38%, New Orleans has one of the highest poverty rates in the United States. These factors may have prevented many people from being able to evacuate on their own. Consequentially most of those stranded in the city are the poor, the elderly, and the sick.[65][66]

Numerous school buses were left parked on low ground where they would be easily flooded with storm water and then later by the levee flooding making their use impossible in the emergency evacuation after the rupture of the levee [67]. It is not clear whether these buses were owned by the city or by a private contractor to which the city had outsourced school bus services. Mayor Nagin sent city buses from New Orleans' Regional Transit Authority to help shelter those that stayed behind. These buses were intended to bring the remaining people to the Superdome for a last haven and for relief, but the dome was stocked with few relief supplies. Many supporters also note that school buses, while powerful, can be difficult to control in normally high windspeed of 50-80 mph (80-120 km/h). Additionally, drivers of the school buses must own and maintain a class D commercial license or better depending on the exact size and weight of the bus, and therefore availability of drivers would ultimately have limited the use of these vehicles. However, city evacuation plans ([68] p. II-2) do mention possible use of school buses for evacuation. It is unknown if there were enough drivers for this plan after the initial evacuation. In a phone call to WWL radio [69], Nagin called for 500 buses to be sent from outside the city to help evacuate.

In spite of these risks and his lack of formal training or government-issued licenses, 20-year-old Jabbar Gibson commandeered a New Orleans school bus and rescued 70 people from the rising flood waters before making the 13-hour drive to Houston, arriving on Wednesday evening. [70][71] A day later a licensed driver's commercial bus filled with refugees flipped, resulting in one death and many injuries. [72]

Some evacuees report that the drive from New Orleans to Baton Rouge took anywhere from five hours to nine hours; this drive usually takes up to an hour. Reports from the Associated Press state that 80% of the near 500,000 had evacuated safely from New Orleans prior to the hurricane's landfall. Even if licensed drivers had been available and the available buses had been used to evacuate the remaining approximately 150,000 people, they may not have made it to safety before landfall.

This massive migration is the largest since the Dust Bowl of the 1930's sent about 300,000 people from the Great Plains States to other regions of the US, most notably California.

Race and class issues

See also: Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans (criticism of relief effort) .

The question of demographics has been raised in the media as news video and photographs showed primarily black citizens stranded in New Orleans. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the 2004 New Orleans population to be 20.0% white and 67.9% black.[73] The city is also within the Black Belt region. More than 25% live at or below the poverty line. Within the city itself, the poorest tended to live in the lowest parts that are most vulnerable to flooding.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Black Leadership Forum, National Conference of State Legislators, National Urban League and the NAACP held a news conference expressing anger and charging that the response was slow because those most affected are poor.[74][75] This has led to city officials being accused of racism, with critics saying they didn't bother to formulate an evacuation plan for those who cannot afford private transportation. These groups were also very displeased that the citizens in New Orleans were being referred to as "looters;" another concern was the media's choice of terminology for the displaced, refugees. In one analysis, [76] it was found that 'refugees' appeared 5 times more frequently in the global media than the more neutral 'evacuees'. Accordingly, most of the major media outlets in the U.S. eliminated the usage of ‘refugees’ with a few exceptions, most notably, the New York Times. [77]

On September 2, while presenting on the NBC Concert for Hurricane Relief, music producer and rapper Kanye West strayed from his script and addressed what he perceived as the racism of both the government and of the media, stating: "George Bush doesn't care about black people", and called for the media to stop labelling African-American families as “looters” while white families were depicted as “looking for food.” During these comments NBC cut filming on West and footage resumed with Chris Tucker. (West's comments were heard in the entirety in the eastern U.S., where the telecast was shown live; NBC later removed a portion of the comments on the tape-delayed telecast shown in the west. NBC also issued an apology for the comments.) [78] (Additionally, inquiries into the matter showed that while a caption did refer to a white couple as 'looking for food' and a black male as 'looting', they were from two separate news organizations, with one deciding to use "looking" because the act of looting was not observed by the reporter, whereas in the case of the male the reporter witnessed the looting. [79]

Government response issues

There is widespread criticism of the inadequate response by local, state, and federal authorities to the hunger, death and lack of aid to the hurricane's victims. [80] About 6,200 Army and Air National Guard troops were on duty in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida when Katrina struck [81], and by 31 August, that number climbed to 11,000 Army and Air National Guard members from around the nation and 7,200 active-duty troops, mostly Navy. 10,000 more National Guard troops are expected to join the effort within the following 48 hours [82]. However more than two and a half days after the hurricane struck, police, health care and other emergency workers voice concerns, in the media, about the absence of National Guard troops in the city for search and rescue missions and to control looting. It was not until Friday that the military arrived in New Orleans in sufficient numbers to ease the suffering of the storm survivors.

Media reports have also proposed National Guard units are short staffed in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama because they are currently on a tour of duty in Iraq, including 3,000, or 35 percent of, members of the Louisiana National Guard's 256th Brigade.[83] The National Guard Bureau denied that there was a problem noting that over 300,000 Guard troops are in the United States and available if needed. [84] However, even though there were states ready and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in New Orleans they were not sent until days after the storm struck. The delay is likely to be investigated by Congress. While President Bush had the legal authority to order the National Guard to the disaster area himself as he did after the 11 September 2001 attacks, presidents of both parties traditionally defer to governors to deploy their own National Guardsmen and request help from other states when it comes to natural disasters. [85] Federal law governs the use of troops in disaster situations, according to the Stafford Act (Enacted: 1974; Amended: October 30 2000).

See also: International response to Hurricane Katrina.

Environmental issues

Another environmental factor in the extent of damage caused by Katrina has been the destruction of wetlands in the affected regions, which traditionally have a mitigating effect on hurricane damage acting as a sponge to slow floodwaters.[86][87]

Untreated sewage, decomposing bodies and livestock as well as a complicated mixture of toxic chemicals and oils originating from both domestic, agricultural and industrial sources are still mixing into the floodwaters creating a serious health risk across the whole of the flooded area. The immediate threats include disease contagions being spread from decomposing bodies, both by water and by animal vectors such as mosquitoes. Longer term threats will reveal themselves as the floodwaters recede, leaving behind them a biochemical residuum which could severely impact both surface and groundwaters as well as soils and urban environments. An immediate challenge is how to safely dispose of the vast quantities of polluted water inside New Orleans. Many news reports currently state that the water inside New Orleans will simply be pumped straight back into Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf of Mexico; the effects of this kind of action remain extremely unclear and could result in serious contamination of both these water bodies.

Media involvement

Many representatives of the news media reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina became directly involved in the unfolding events, instead of simply reporting. Due to the loss of most means of communication, such as land-based and cellular telephone systems, field reporters in many cases became conduits for information between victims and authorities. In some instances, the lack of communication made the situation seem more dire as days-old information continued to circulate, making recovery efforts seem non-existent.

Several reporters for various news agencies located groups of stranded victims, and reported their location via satellite uplink. Authorities, who monitored the network news broadcasts, would then attempt to coordinate rescue efforts based on the news reports. This was best illustrated when Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera of Fox News, among others, reported thousands of evacuees stranded at the New Orleans Convention Center. Rivera tearfully pleaded for authorities to either send help or let the evacuees leave. [88] Geraldo Rivera went so far as to compare the convention center to Willowbrook State School. [89]

The news media, both traditional and Internet, also played a role in helping families locate missing loved ones. Many family members, unable to contact local authorities in the affected areas, discovered the fate of a loved one via an online photo or television video clip. In one instance, a family in Clearwater, Florida discovered their mother was still alive in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi after seeing a photo of her on TampaBayStart.com, a regional news site.

Claims of restrictions on the media

As the US military and rescue services regained control over the city, there were claims of restrictions on the activity of the media. On September 7 a FEMA spokeswoman requested in an email to journalists that they voluntarily refrain from taking photographs of the many corpses still present in the city at that time. ([90]). Critics of the federal government consider this to be similar to the controversial post-9/11 policy that corpses under federal custody should be kept shielded from media photographers.

Journalists Brian Williams and Pete Williams ([91]) reported that government personnel on the scene blocked attempts to report on rescue efforts in New Orleans. However, at evacuee centres such as the Austin Convention Center and the Houston Astrodome press activity was extensive.