Hurricnane Katrina
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On the late afternoon of Thursday, August 22, Hurricane Katrina trudged ashore with harsh winds and pouring rains in what would usually be a sunny southeast Florida. It left at least three people dead and over 1 million without electricity. However, that was just the beginning of what would later be known as what President Bush called, “the worst natural disaster to hit America”.
On the morning of Sunday, August 28, Hurricane Katrina catapulted from a category 4 hurricane at 2 AM to a frightening category 5 hurricane at 7 AM, causing the states of Mississippi and Alabama to immediately declare a state of emergency. It also forced Mayor Nagin of New Orleans to issue its first ever mandatory evacuation after newspapers signaled that the levees that protected the city which was built over 20 feet below sea level, may give.
Later that afternoon, there were reports of water flowing over the levees that sent thousands of residents fleeing. Approximately thirty thousand more who could not escape circled around the Superdome in anticipation of finding sanctuary from the storm, with thousands still trapped on the roofs of their homes.
Dr. Ivan VanHeerden, director of the LSU Hurricane Center, appeared on CNN with Anderson Cooper saying that a year ago he actually warned New Orleans city officials that the levees protecting the city would not be able to withstand a category 5 hurricane and that the city would be forced to evacuate over 200,000 residents.
In the end, Hurricane Katrina left the states of Mississippi and Alabama, but most importantly, the city of New Orleans in complete destruction. Setbacks in getting aid to New Orleans and many other errors cost the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people.
There are several factors that lead to the hurricanes tragedy. First being that Mayor Nagin of New Orleans, Governor Blanco of Louisiana, and President Bush were all informed of the hurricanes strength by Max Mayfield, hurricane center director, but were seen not to take the reports seriously due to their ill response to the mandatory evacuation. Second, evacuees were told to report to the Convention Center and the Superdome which both lacked adequate amounts of food and water. Last, the Louisiana National guard requested 700 busses from FEMA for evacuations from the Convention Center and Superdome and FEMA only sent 100 (Boston Globe).
According to a special report made by CNN.com, Max Mayfield, hurricane center director stated in a news conference on Friday, August 26 that:
“Hurricane Katrina will make a “big shift” to the west on its way across the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to reach dangerous Category 4 intensity before making landfall Monday afternoon in Mississippi or Louisiana. I just dont see any reason why this will not become a very, very powerful hurricane before its all over.”
At this news conference, President Bush, Governor Blanco, and Mayor Nagin were all made aware of the hurricanes potential strength, therefore the mandatory evacuation should have been taken more seriously.
Since the state is responsible for evacuation, Governor Kathleen Blanco should have done two things: call the National Guard troops before the arrival of the hurricane and provide transportation for those residents who were unable to evacuate when the mandatory evacuation