On day 23 of August tropical storm Katrina formed of the coast of the Bahamas. During which time residences throughout the east coast of Florida were already preparing. During the next six days Katrina made a turn to the south west and when it crossed under the Florida Keys it quickly veered north as it gained strength and turning from a category one hurricane to a category 5 in a matter of days causing deaths and flooding there before strengthening rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico.
The hurricane strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane over the warm Gulf water, but weakened before making its second landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the morning of Monday, August 29 in southeast Louisiana. It caused severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge. The most significant number of deaths occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana, which flooded as the levee system catastrophically failed; in many cases hours after the storm had moved inland.This caused 80% of the city and large neighboring parishes became flooded, and the floodwaters lingered for weeks. “Awakening to reports of Katrina’s landfall on the Gulf Coast the morning of Monday, August 29, American citizens watched events unfold with an initial curiosity that soon turned to concern and sorrow.
The awe that viewers held for the sheer ferocity of nature was soon matched with disappointment and frustration at the seeming inability of the “governmental, State, and Federal—to respond effectively to the crisis.Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent sustained flooding of New Orleans exposed significant flaws in Federal, State, and local preparedness for catastrophic events and our capacity to respond to them town plans. ” Prior to Hurricane Katrina’s arrival the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana were responsible for evacuating people from the City and State. Many people do not know this but the Posse Comitatus Act of 1898, precludes a president from going into a state without an invitation from the governor. So they were ultimately responsible.
As the hurricane ravagedLouisiana the governors of Florida Texas and Mississippi responded, quickly working with the President and allowing FEMA to act in assisting residence from these states. One of the cities that Katrina destroyed was occurred in coastal areas, such as all Mississippi beachfront towns, which were flooded over 90% in hours, as boats and casino barges rammed buildings, pushing cars and houses inland, with waters reaching 6–12 miles from the beach. While this part of Mississippi was destroyed the governor acted properly requesting help evacuating people before the hurricane hit land.In an article written and updated on April 29, 2013 by The New York Times titled Hurricane Katrina “In New Orleans, floodwaters from the breached levee rose to rooftops in the poorest neighborhood, and in many areas residents were rescued from roofs of homes that became uninhabitable.
The hurricane’s howling winds stripped 15-foot sections off the roof of the Superdome, where as many as 10,000 evacuees had taken shelter. An exodus of hundreds of thousands left the city, many becoming refugees, finding shelter with nearby relatives or restarting their lives in states as far away as Massachusetts and Utah.
