In class, we looked at how hurricanes form and their cycles especially with the tragedy of Hurricane Sandy.
For this blog, I am going to review Hurricane Katrina.
Hurricane was without a doubt a tragedy. There was so much destruction. It is something unforgettable. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association says that it was "one of the strongest storms to impact the cost of the U.S. during the last 100 years." It was a category 3 hurricane with 125 mph winds at landfall. It caused damage across New Orleans, LA, Mobile, AL, and Gulfport, MS to just name a few major cities impacted by this storm.
The Weather Behind the Storm
The above map shows the development and the path of Hurricane Katrina. It began as a tropical depression around the Bahamas on August 23, but became a tropical storm the next day. It was a category 1 hurricane right before it hit landfall in Florida on August 25. It gained more strength once it reached the Gulf of Mexico. It became known as a major hurricane on August 26 as the warm Sea Surface Temperature strengthened the hurricane. On August 28, it reached maximum wind speeds of over 170 miles per hour. Hurricane Katrina became a category 4 before it reached landfall. When it did reach landfall on the morning of August 29, it was recorded as a category 3 hurricane. One of the major problems of this storm was the size of it as opposed to the category of force.
Here are some animations of landfall.
The Impact
Florida received over 5 inches of rain with some places reporting 15 inches and some flooding due to the rain. Furthermore, the winds caused even more damages. Miami reports winds as high as 80 miles per hour. These winds caused physical damage and power outage.
On the Gulf Coasts, records show that rainfall was over an inch per hour and some records show that it reached between 8 and 15 inches overall causing flooding. Winds also caused damage ranging from 80 miles per hour to 140 miles per hour. The levee that broke in New Orleans left about 80% of the city underwater withe some parts under 20 feet of water. Storm surges also left several cities in Alabama and Mississippi underwater.
Furthermore, rain bands from Katrina produces tornadoes affecting a larger part of the Southeast.
This storm left people without electricity and drinking water. Over 1.7 million people lost power in the Gulf Coast. This storm also affected the oil industry.
This storm killed 1,836 people as one of the deadliest hurricanes to hit the U.S.
The estimated cost of this storm is over $100 million.
Here is an interactive guide to the flooding caused by Katrina. This helps explain what happened in a creative visual way. Click here.
Here is a gallery of the damage from Katrina and the recovery of the city. It is impressive to see the difference. Click here.
Fall Break Trip
This year during Fall Break I was able to go to Slidell, Louisiana to do hurricane relief work. It is incredible to me that there is still so much recovery to be done. This area of Louisana was impacted by the flooding from Katrina and was hit again by Isaac. The locals said that now that the levee is fixed in New Orleans the water is coming to the rural areas. The home where we worked at got hit by both storms; however, the homeowner said that the house had not been impacted by storms before that. Here is a picture of the inside of her house. In it you can see the water line from Katrina. She said she was fortunate because the water came up but did not stay very long. The house was also flooded during Isaac, but only enough to ruin the flooring, so we put in new floor for her. As you can see from the second picture, her house unlike others on her street, is raised.
Most of the information about Hurricane Katrina came from:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/special-reports/katrina.html
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/katrina/facts/facts.html
