It gained strength and was categorized as a tropical storm named Katrina on the 24th
It moved westwards and just before it made landfall at Florida it reached hurricane strength
The storm did weaken over land but it intensified to hurricane force over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico going from a catgeory 3 to a category 5 on the Saffir Simpson code
The warm waters of the loop current helped to reduce pressure and raise winds even further
The hurricane reached its peak on the 28th August at a category 5 at 1pm
max winds 280km/hr
Katrina's track was what caused the damage; it tracked over one of the most densely populated parts of the Gulf Coast of the US
Although it had reduced in intensity when it made landfall in Louisiana on the 29th it was still a category 3
As it moved inland it lost intensity and became a category 1
By the 30th it became a tropical depression
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Economic Impacts
1 million people became refugees
most affected were the poorer black American urban dwellers
Critics say that if they had been white, the response would have been better
Damage worth $200 billion
oil rigs damaged
price of oil up ($60 a barrell)
Affected the whole world- UK petrol reached £1 per litre for the 1st time.
French quarter tourism down
losses of $5 billion in the forest industry
230,000 jobs eliminated
some insurance companies stopped providing insurance in the area
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Environmental Impacts
80% of the city flooded after levees broke
Beach erosion
1.3 million acres of forest land destroyed
habitats lost
Closure of 16 National Wildlife Refuges
Flood waters containing raw sewage, baceria , pesticides, toxic chemicals and over 24 million litres of oil pumped into Lake Pontchartrain
20ft of water covered some parts of New Orleans
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Social Impacts
Power and water services disrupted
233,000km2 declared a disaster zone
5 million people without power
took 2 months for everyone to be reconnected
looters ran riot- Mississippi National Guard had to be deployed
550,000 houses too damaged to be repaired
110,000/180,000 houses flooded in New Orleans
1836 deaths
few people died in the aftermath as the USA has good access to waters, food and medical supplies
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Responses
Between 26 and 28 August, before the hurricane hit, advanced warning was given, GWB declared a state of emergency and it was upgraded to a category 4 leading the Mayor of New Orleans ordering an evacuation
However, although most of the population managed to leave New Orleans, around 150,000 people stayed, mostly by choice
Govt aid was rapidly assigned- $10.5 billion in the first week of September
7 Sept- $51.8 billion allocated from federal funds
Public donated $1.8 billion
Coast Guard rescued more than 33,000 stranded people
Military presence
Louisiana Superdrome used to house 26,000 refugees
Basic supply of food and water delivered to support 150,000 for three days
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