Made Landfall Three Times

Hurricane Katrina

When?

Lifespan from 23td August to August 31st

Made landfall three times

Where?

Affected Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama

How?

Developed on 23rd August over the south Bahamas and was named Katrina the next day

28th August it became a category 4 and was heading for coasts of Mississippi and Louisiana

The hurricane intensified to a category 5 with wind speeds of 280km h-1 and gusts of 345km h-1 with a central pressure of 902mb

President Bush declared a state of emergency on 27th August in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi

Most of the population managed to leave in private cars and school buses but 150,000 people remained and were instructed to seek refuge in Louisiana Superdrome

Hit Louisiana on morning 29th August with a massive storm surge up to 10m

Impacts (Economic, Enviromental, Social)

Primary

Damaged or destroyed 30 oil platforms

1.3 million acres of forest lands destroyed

Cotton and sugar cane crops were flattened

230,000 jobs eliminated on the Gulf Coast

Many oil rigs in the Gulf area were damaged with immediate effect of the price of oil going up

Famous New Orleans French Quarter was severely damaged affecting tourism revenues

New Orleans flood defences were breached causing 80% of the city to be flooded

Trees uprooted and forests destroyed

Flood waters covering New Orleans into Lake Pontchartrain contained raw sewage, bacteria, heavy metals, pesticides, toxic chemicals and over 24million litres of oil

Over 20% of marshes used for breeding homes were permanently turned into water

Damage forced 16 National Wildlife Refuges to close

55,000 houses too damaged to be repaired

110,000 houses flooded out of 180,000

1242 killed (few died in the aftermath as US had good access to water and medical supplies)

26,000 people