Hurricane Katrina 2005

Question 1

what were the areas effected?

Answer 1

New Orleans
worst affected areas are Gentilly and 9th ward

Question 2

GNI per capita of New Orleans?

Answer 2

New Orleans - $37,000
US average - $57,000

Question 3

what was the literacy rate and how did this affect risk?

Answer 3

85% - 10% lower than us average
people less able to read advice material on how to deal with the storm

Question 4

how did employment status affect risk?

Answer 4

surrounded by other low literacy unskilled workers

Question 5

how did religious background affect risk?

Answer 5

some christian groups had faith in god (USA motto: in god we trust) this lead to fatalist attitudes

Question 6

how did marital status affect risk?

Answer 6

larger than average family size and more single parent families mean children receive less support

Question 7

how did past experience affect risk?

Answer 7

biggest major flood since 1927, and without any major flooding in recent times, people may have been under a false impression that they were safe.

Question 8

political reasons for disaster?

Answer 8

President Bush cut funding to FEMA due to war on terror (invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan)
Meant FEMA could not enlarge levees and provide buses for evacuation. help arrived after 4 days when it was promised by 48 hours.
$2 billion was required to protect the city.

Question 9

how did topography affect risk?

Answer 9

bowl shaped topography meant 50% of land is below sea level

Question 10

dimensions of storm hazard?

Answer 10

cat 5
250mm of rainfall
174 mph winds
8.5m storm surge

Question 11

primary impacts of the hazard?

Answer 11

• Debris blown and littered the surrounding sea, causing plastic pollution
• flooding caused raw sewage leak
• $200 billion worth of damage
• famers crops destroyed
• 1 million people became refugees
• 1836 people died, mainly from drowning
• ineffective governance lead to racial tensions in which the non-white community felt they were not being fully supported by government

Question 12

secondary impacts of the hazard?

Answer 12

• salt water contamination affected non-saline natural habitats
• $2.5 billion had to be spent on cleaning up waste and debris
• took 5 years to decontaminate soil from salt and allow production to return
• damaged oil rigs in gulf of Mexico caused petrol prices to rise above £1 for the first time
• 55,000 properties were damaged beyond repair and many people did not return for 6 months.
• it has taken until 2022 for population to return to pre disaster levels
• changes in governance to support the wider new Orleans community. The development of the black lives matter movement

Question 13

how many people died

Answer 13

1836

Question 14

political impacts

Answer 14

loss in faith to FEMA
loss of electorate to George Bush due to concerns of lack of funding to fully prepare New Orleans

Question 15

environmental impacts

Answer 15

oil leaks into surroundings
debris spread for miles

Question 16

short term responses?

Answer 16

• FEMA: public transport, helicopters, and boats for most effected areas. also teams and supplies such as mortuary teams. although, only 100 of the 700 planned buses arrived
• mandatory evacuation, many of whom went to the nearby superdome sports stadium
• state of emergency declared in Mississippi and Louisiana

Question 17

long term responses?

Answer 17

• the floodwater was pumped into the lake Pontchartrain, which took over a month
• $62 billion allocated by US congress to be spent in aid of feeding and rehousing the people who were affected
• US federal state governments spent $20 billion building a new defense system with levees gates pumps and flood walls

Question 18

examples of preparation?

Answer 18

• some food was set out at the sports stadium, but these dwindled quickly the lack of resources and overcrowding led to a further 3 deaths at this location
• public transport evacuation was planned (FEMA) but many of these did not arrive due to budget cuts under the Bush administration and the war on terror.

Question 19

examples of mitigation?

Answer 19

• buildings can be made to withstand the strong winds and be put upon stilts to avoid floodwater. even making homes slightly higher can help as people can escape to the highest story in their home.

Question 20

examples of prevention?

Answer 20

very hard to prevent, cloud seeding has been done successfully, such as the Moscow Olympics. but is unfeasible on a large scale such as a hurricane.

Question 21

examples of adaption?

Answer 21

new defenses were built, and the layout of the city was changed. Additionally, there is now more awareness of potential risks from tropical storms.

Question 22

According to the NOAA, how many hurricanes make landfall within 50 miles on new Orleans?

Answer 22

once every seven to eleven years

Question 23

what did the racial zoning laws of the early 1900’s do?

Answer 23

restrict the integration of African Americans and Caucasians

Question 24

what happened in 1927?

Answer 24

racial zoning laws were classified as unconstitutional and removed.
However despite this shift away from racial segregation, the hazard of tropical storms has assisted in amplifying this racial segregation in New Orleans

Question 25

what were some previous storms?

Answer 25

storm Betsy 1965
storm Georges 1998

Question 26

average property value in Gentilly?

Answer 26

$230,000
these properties are usually occupied by lower income families which unfortunately tend to be African American

Question 26

how deep was Gentilly flooded?

Answer 26

10 ft

Question 27

what percentage of Gentilly is African American?

Answer 27

78%

Question 28

how much higher is uptown and what are the average property prices?

Answer 28

12ft
$400,000
higher, less risk land creates premium property prices

Question 29

what percentage of uptown is Caucasian?

Answer 29

73%

Question 30

what happened to the population in Gentilly after the event?

Answer 30

22% decline