2005 : Hurricane Katrina slams into Gulf Coast
Hurricane Katrina makes landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana, as a
Category 4 hurricane on this day in 2005. Despite being only the third
most powerful storm of the 2005 hurricane season, Katrina was the
worst natural disaster in the history of the United States. After
briefly coming ashore in southern Florida on August 25 as a Category 1
hurricane, Katrina gained strength before slamming into the Gulf Coast
on August 29. In addition to bringing devastation to the New Orleans
area, the hurricane caused damage along the coasts of Mississippi and
Alabama, as well as other parts of Louisiana.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city
on August 28, when Katrina briefly achieved Category 5 status and the
National Weather Service predicted "devastating" damage to the area.
But an estimated 150,000 people, who either did not want to or did not
have the resources to leave, ignored the order and stayed behind. The
storm brought sustained winds of 145 miles per hour, which cut power
lines and destroyed homes, even turning cars into projectile missiles.
Katrina caused record storm surges all along the Mississippi Gulf
Coast. The surges overwhelmed the levees that protected New Orleans,
located at six feet below sea level, from Lake Pontchartrain and the
Mississippi River. Soon, 80 percent of the city was flooded up to the
rooftops of many homes and small buildings.
Tens of thousands of people sought shelter in the New Orleans
Convention Center and the Louisiana Superdome. The situation in both
places quickly deteriorated, as food and water ran low and conditions
became unsanitary. Frustration mounted as it took up to two days for a
full-scale relief effort to begin. In the meantime, the stranded
residents suffered from heat, hunger, and a lack of medical care.
Reports of looting, rape, and even murder began to surface. As news
networks broadcast scenes from the devastated city to the world, it
became obvious that a vast majority of the victims were
African-American and poor, leading to difficult questions among the
public about the state of racial equality in the United States. The
federal government and President George W. Bush were roundly
criticized for what was perceived as their slow response to the
disaster. The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
Michael Brown, resigned amid the ensuing controversy.
Finally, on September 1, the tens of thousands of people staying in
the damaged Superdome and Convention Center begin to be moved to the
Astrodome in Houston, Texas, and another mandatory evacuation order
was issued for the city. The next day, military convoys arrived with
supplies and the National Guard was brought in to bring a halt to
lawlessness. Efforts began to collect and identify corpses. On
September 6, eight days after the hurricane, the Army Corps of
Engineers finally completed temporary repairs to the three major holes
in New Orleans' levee system and were able to begin pumping water out
of the city.
In all, it is believed that the hurricane caused more than 1,300
deaths and up to $150 billion in damages to both private property and
public infrastructure. It is estimated that only about $40 billion of
that number will be covered by insurance. One million people were
displaced by the disaster, a phenomenon unseen in the United States
since the Great Depression. Four hundred thousand people lost their
jobs as a result of the disaster. Offers of international aid poured
in from around the world, even from poor countries like Bangladesh and
Sri Lanka. Private donations from U.S. citizens alone approached $600
million.
The storm also set off 36 tornadoes in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia,
Pennsylvania, and Virginia, resulting in one death.
President Bush declared September 16 a national day of remembrance for
the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
history.com/tdih.do
1533 : Pizarro Executes Last Inca Emperor
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7004
1949 : Soviets explode atomic bomb
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5299
1968 : Humphrey nominated in Chicago
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5300
1975 : Eamon de Valera dies
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5301
##########################################
Hurricane Katrina makes landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana, as a
Category 4 hurricane on this day in 2005. Despite being only the third
most powerful storm of the 2005 hurricane season, Katrina was the
worst natural disaster in the history of the United States. After
briefly coming ashore in southern Florida on August 25 as a Category 1
hurricane, Katrina gained strength before slamming into the Gulf Coast
on August 29. In addition to bringing devastation to the New Orleans
area, the hurricane caused damage along the coasts of Mississippi and
Alabama, as well as other parts of Louisiana.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city
on August 28, when Katrina briefly achieved Category 5 status and the
National Weather Service predicted "devastating" damage to the area.
But an estimated 150,000 people, who either did not want to or did not
have the resources to leave, ignored the order and stayed behind. The
storm brought sustained winds of 145 miles per hour, which cut power
lines and destroyed homes, even turning cars into projectile missiles.
Katrina caused record storm surges all along the Mississippi Gulf
Coast. The surges overwhelmed the levees that protected New Orleans,
located at six feet below sea level, from Lake Pontchartrain and the
Mississippi River. Soon, 80 percent of the city was flooded up to the
rooftops of many homes and small buildings.
Tens of thousands of people sought shelter in the New Orleans
Convention Center and the Louisiana Superdome. The situation in both
places quickly deteriorated, as food and water ran low and conditions
became unsanitary. Frustration mounted as it took up to two days for a
full-scale relief effort to begin. In the meantime, the stranded
residents suffered from heat, hunger, and a lack of medical care.
Reports of looting, rape, and even murder began to surface. As news
networks broadcast scenes from the devastated city to the world, it
became obvious that a vast majority of the victims were
African-American and poor, leading to difficult questions among the
public about the state of racial equality in the United States. The
federal government and President George W. Bush were roundly
criticized for what was perceived as their slow response to the
disaster. The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
Michael Brown, resigned amid the ensuing controversy.
Finally, on September 1, the tens of thousands of people staying in
the damaged Superdome and Convention Center begin to be moved to the
Astrodome in Houston, Texas, and another mandatory evacuation order
was issued for the city. The next day, military convoys arrived with
supplies and the National Guard was brought in to bring a halt to
lawlessness. Efforts began to collect and identify corpses. On
September 6, eight days after the hurricane, the Army Corps of
Engineers finally completed temporary repairs to the three major holes
in New Orleans' levee system and were able to begin pumping water out
of the city.
In all, it is believed that the hurricane caused more than 1,300
deaths and up to $150 billion in damages to both private property and
public infrastructure. It is estimated that only about $40 billion of
that number will be covered by insurance. One million people were
displaced by the disaster, a phenomenon unseen in the United States
since the Great Depression. Four hundred thousand people lost their
jobs as a result of the disaster. Offers of international aid poured
in from around the world, even from poor countries like Bangladesh and
Sri Lanka. Private donations from U.S. citizens alone approached $600
million.
The storm also set off 36 tornadoes in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia,
Pennsylvania, and Virginia, resulting in one death.
President Bush declared September 16 a national day of remembrance for
the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
history.com/tdih.do
1533 : Pizarro Executes Last Inca Emperor
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7004
1949 : Soviets explode atomic bomb
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5299
1968 : Humphrey nominated in Chicago
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5300
1975 : Eamon de Valera dies
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5301
##########################################
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