Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Katrina formed about 200 miles southeast of the Bahamas as a tropical depression. A band of storm clouds wrapped around the north side of the storm creating winds about 40 mph, turning it into a tropical storm. It hit Florida as a Category 1 hurricane and although it caused some flooding and casualties during its first hit, Katrina appeared to be just another hurricane in a hurricane season. It weakened after it hit Florida, but strengthened over the water in the Gulf of Mexico and re-intensified into a Category Five storm. As hurricane Katrina hit Mississippi with a large storm surge of about 28 feet it punished coastal areas in Mississippi and in Louisiana. An estimated 80% of New Orleans was left underwater and all the levees built by the U.S Army corps were destroyed.  The hurricane was so devastating that it required rescue missions from the national guards and other military units and left thousands of people homeless. Hurricane Katrina caused $81 billion in property damages, but it is estimated that the total impact in Louisiana and Mississippi may have exceeded $150 billion. The final death toll was 1,836 and almost 1,600 of these deaths were in Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina affected over 15 million people in different ways, from having to evacuate their homes, rising gas prices, and the economy suffering. In New Orleans, there are almost twice as many restaurants and shops open than there were before Katrina hit, but on the other hand, the police force is still about 25% smaller than it was the week before Katrina hit. So overall cities like New Orleans are trying their best to get back to where they were but its gonna take a lot of work.