Title USA Hurricane Katrina Impacts What happened to

Title: USA, Hurricane Katrina Impacts What happened to the coastal areas of the USA after hurricane Katrina hit?

Louisiana – New Orleans • Flood defences, such as the sea wall and the river levees, burst with the pressure of the storm surge. Over 80% of New Orleans was flooded, because of this. • The video below shows the impact, as does the map on the right – depth of flooding is important to note. https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=jug. I 270 O 7 Z 8

Impact on the physical environment • Turtle breeding grounds were damaged along the coastline, Oil spills were caused, polluting the water and the environment and Louisiana’s wildlife refuge was also washed away (along with many houses and natural environments).

Short term and long term economic impact • Short term Long term Over 1800 people died in total. $106 billion in costs to repair the damages (still ongoing 15 years later). 300, 000 homes were destroyed. 10 years later, the unemployment is still high. Hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless. 10 years later and there are many houses still lost/damaged/in rubble. 3 million were without electricity. Roads damaged, bridges collapsed, 230, 000 jobs lost Flood defences are still undermaintained and threaten to breach again. Poverty rates are higher than ever before. http: //www. hurricanescience. org/history/studies/katrinacase/i mpacts/#: ~: text=Besides%20 the%20 death%20 toll%2 C%20 hurri cane, New%20 Orleans%20 showing%20 flooding%20 depths. http: //www. msnbc. com/msnbc/10 -years-later-new-orleansresidents-reflect-life-after-katrina#slide 5

How did the USA respond to Katrina? • Short term 4 days in – President G. Bush ordered for a $10. 4 billion aid package and 7, 200 national guards to assist Louisiana. 7 days in – A further $51. 8 billion aid package was agreed by the president. 10 days in – hundreds of firefighters volunteered from across the country to assist in rescuing people and helping to pump out flood water. Foreign aid and troops were offered but not accepted by the USA. • Long term • 50% of the aid budget has been spent on temporary and long term solutions to the destruction of housing (as seen in previous article). • Local infrastructure was re-built or repaired (levees and sea wall included). Pumps and canal closures were also built to reduce flooding immediately after happening. This is not a complete solution, but has made the coastline the most resilient to flooding that it’s ever been – reducing risk to life by 75%. • Investment in the local economy, to try to bring back jobs to the community. Funds were given to rebuild businesses and taxes were reduced to encourage growth.