Hurricane Katrina (2005)

Hurricane Katrina, was the third strongest hurricane to make landfall on America in 100 years, she hit Louisiana on the 28th August 2005 with the power of a nuclear explosion. With 125 mile per hour winds she caused widespread devastation. Eighty per cent of New Orleans is several feet below sea level, surrounded by water on all sides. Hurricanes bring rising sea levels making the city extremely vulnerable to flooding. The cities sole protection is a series of flood barriers known as levees. Aware that the hurricane was closing in on New Orleans, a state of emergency was declared, and all residents asked to leave the city. But many had no means to get out, they were directed to the makeshift relief centre set up in the superdome football stadium. Here they spent the night sheltering from the storm. On the morning of Monday August 29th the city seemed to have survived the worst of the storm, but then, unexpectedly, several sections of the levees holding back the water from the city of New Orleans gave way and water poured in. Soon 80 percent of the city was submerged, by water, in places up to 20 feet deep. Thousands of people were stranded. Many headed to the Superdome for temporary refuge. The desperately needed transportation didn't arrive quickly enough, and as more people were rescued the numbers in the dome swelled. Conditions quickly deteriorated. The heat was overwhelming, and food and water in short supply. As desperate residents broke open shops and warehouses for supplies, police reacted with lethal force, the situation descended into chaos. Finally after 4 days, the national guard arrived, bringing much needed supplies of food, water and medicine to the stranded population in the Superdome. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA should have been co ordinating relief but nothing had been getting through, it caused a national scandal. The scenes from New Orleans shook the world. How could such a rich and powerful nation be so ill prepared to meet the needs of its citizens