Hurricane Katrina gets explained as a coastline storm

Hurricane Katrina gets explained as a coastline storm

Hurricane Katrina gets explained as a coastline storm in the history of the United States, and its effects are felt even today in coastal Louisiana and New Orleans. The Hurricane made landfall off on the Louisiana coast on August 29, 2005. It reached land as a category 3 storm, which had winds meeting speed as high as 120 miles per hour. Due to its massive destruction rate, the storm gets considered the worst in American history (Bryner & Bruch, 2017). Estimated 1200 people lost their lives from the storm, plus over 108 billion dollars’ worth items were damaged, which makes it the costliest storm recorded in history.

Nevertheless, the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina formed several deep-rooted problems. Examples of problems were: search-and-rescue efforts difficulties, poor preparedness methods for the storm, and controversies over the response by the federal government. The victims of Katrina were mostly African Americans and the low-income category who were on high numbers in those who lost their items and later faced by years of hardship. As years passed, the coastal lines of New Orleans remained untouched both culturally and physically. Damages were so severe that some pundits argued that New Orleans should get abandoned permanently, although the city had rebuilding plans. According to researchers, after Katrina, the population of New Orleans fell by about half in the year.

Nevertheless, currently, the population has grown back to like 80 percent of the one before the hurricane. According to the detailed timeline of the storm, Katrina first formed in Caribbean waters near the Bahamas. It reached the hurricane level two days later, which passed through Miami at 80 miles per hour uprooting trees and killed two people. It crossed the Mexican gulf, where it gained strength and came out as a hurricane since it gained strength and speed.

Conversations Understanding on the Hurricane and its Aftermath

Available in Americans’ collective memories on the occurrence of Hurricane Katrina are pictures of different survivors on the rooftops in need of help. From the images, a claim that the survivors denied taking prospective actions. The homeland security secretary claimed that survivors failed to obey the order of evacuation. The leaders assumed that the survivors who stayed chose to stay, and they were to blame for their problems. Things got normalized by the model of the agency, which made observers view actions in a specific manner, which fostered a lack of empathy for the staying survivors (Sydnor & Schrank, 2017). In understanding the observer’s view towards survivors, we use system justifying and attribution theory tendencies like stereotyping and victim-blaming. Most viewers used the disjoint model, which explained that a prospective Hurricane Katrina survivor might have overcome the situation by choice, control, and independence- as a means of evacuating.

Hurricane Katrina brought about different social and economic characteristics that affected communities and led to migration in New Orleans and Louisiana. Disasters came from several point outs including biological hazards (insects’ infestation and disease epidemics), environmental degradation (desertification and drought), social hazards (terrorism and war), and other geophysical hazards (earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes). The effects were dependent not only on the range of event traits on the natural surrounding but also on social factors like ethnical and racial compositions, poverty, and income. According to research, the marginalized or socially disadvantaged were more susceptible to displacement from disasters for different reasons like low-quality housing plus fewer insurance levels needed in maintaining and recovering their livelihoods.

The National View on Hurricane Katrina

We cover this section so that we can identify systematic gaps and boost our preparedness when such a disaster occurs in the future- manmade or natural. However, we must proceed precisely in understanding swiftly what went wrong and find ways on how to fix it (Deryugina & Levitt, 2018). After analyzing and reviewing responses to Katrina, we have identified instructions that the Federal Government pointed out.

The current Homeland security systems do not offer strategic frameworks for managing encounters in 21st-century disastrous threats. The government has built a response system that handles demands on a typical hurricane season; the system has abundant flaws for facing catastrophic threats. After Katrina made landfall, local and state authorities knew the devastation was severe. However, from the destruction of infrastructure and response abilities, it hindered the ability to communicate with one another plus coordinate a response (Sydnor & Schrank, 2017). During the storm, the federal authorities struggled to offer help in rescuing stranded citizens in the rising waters, providing evacuation strategies in New Orleans, with less planning and functioning structure to guide their efforts.

Perspective and Additional Information on the Hurricane

The experiences of the evacuees of Katrina indicate the weaknesses and strengths in our poverty and disaster policies, mostly as they influence the poorest among us. As the Gulf residents came to Austin during the storm aftermath, the poorest occupying African-Americans came with fewest resources. They faced lots of problems like lacked clothing, basic identification, and even were separated from families. The relief efforts were unprepared for long-term assistance. Like, the evacuees experienced limited healthcare coverage, and they reported proceeding health conditions.

Accordingly, most evacuees experience longer-term problems and need comprehensive assistance and support. Both poverty and disaster managing strategies must be geared towards responding and recognizing long term trauma, illness, lack of personal resources, and isolation. Currently, the tested means programs need considerable documentation in participation plus have substantial waiting lists. Therefore, without these measures, we will continue to lark behind the victims of the major disaster plus the isolation of those in poverty.

Understanding the Insights of Hurricane Katrina

From the horrors experienced in Superdome to decency inside the wreckage, many ordeals have been told concerning the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. According to President George W Bush, the experiences of the storm were the most disgusting times in his reign (Deryugina & Levitt, 2018). Pictures of him flying in Air Force One looking at 80 percent of land submerged, made him look uncaring and detached. The truth is, the levee breach was a manmade disaster that was anticipated. Leaders ignored the threats and failed to take action until they were too late.

In 2002, a local newspaper warned about the risks of the Katrina storm. The writer had warned that in the state of Louisiana, the natural protections were deteriorating massively, weakening the manmade defenses. Most of the disasters were brought about by engineering plus engineering-related plan catastrophes.

In conclusion, from my experiences in reading about Hurricane Katrina, most people lacked preparedness for the coming storm. People never listened to the warnings given by the weather persons. Similarly, Hurricane Katrina exposed an ugly underbelly of America that most people got very shocked to identify. Many problems arose from the storm aftermath, including post-traumatic stress disorders, heart attacks, and even strokes. Through the learning experiences concerning Hurricane Katrina and the Superdome, there are several life lessons on sustainable development.

First, you must listen. .

It means you must show up, stay up, and shut up. Flyover means leads to failure. Next, be humble- no matter what your CV says, those with deep roots in the community will always have deep insights. Always pay more attention to those who know more than you do. Dig deep- which means always avoid assumptions but rather seek understanding of others’ perspectives. The next one is to avoid shortcuts. There are fewer shortcuts in finding ground for long term solutions (Bryner & Bruch, 2017). The easy answer always fails; the right answers need tough choices. Lastly, always think ahead, far ahead. Sustainable developments need thinking beyond decades. This is to create a lasting change and preparing for the long haul, far beyond the viewable horizons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Bryner, N. S., Garcia-Lozano, M., & Bruch, C. (2017). Washed out: Policy and practical considerations affecting return after hurricane Katrina and superstorm Sandy. Journal of the Asian development, 3(1), 73-93.

Deryugina, T., Kawano, L., & Levitt, S. (2018). The economic impact of Hurricane Katrina on its victims: evidence from individual tax returns. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 10(2), 202-33.

Sydnor, S., Niehm, L., Lee, Y., Marshall, M., & Schrank, H. (2017). Analysis of post-disaster damage and disruptive impacts on the operating status of small businesses after Hurricane Katrina. Natural Hazards, 85(3), 1637-1663.