Essays on Hurricane Katrina

Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi, New Orleans, Eastern United States and Eastern Canada

Hurricane Katrina was a tropical cyclone that struck the southeastern United States in late August 2005. The hurricane and its aftermath claimed more than 1,800 lives, and it ranked as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

There is no particular person for whom Hurricane Katrina was named. Rather, the hurricane was named in accordance with the World Meteorological Organization’s lists of hurricane names, which rotate every six years. Following the historical damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina, the name Katrina was retired from the lists of names

Katrina originated on August 23, 2005, as a tropical depression from the merger of a tropical wave and the remnants of Tropical Depression Ten. Early the following day, the depression intensified into a tropical storm as it headed generally westward toward Florida, strengthening into a hurricane two hours before making landfall at Hallandale Beach on August 25. After briefly weakening to tropical storm strength over southern Florida, Katrina emerged into the Gulf of Mexico on August 26 and began to rapidly intensify.

After it made landfall in Louisiana on August 29, Hurricane Katrina produced widespread flooding in southeastern Louisiana because the levee system that held back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne was completely overwhelmed by 10 inches of rain and Katrina’s storm surge. An estimated 80 percent of New Orleans was underwater by August 30.

The hurricane caused massive destruction, especially in New Orleans, where the levee system failed. By August 30, 80 percent of the city was underwater. A public-health emergency ensued, and civil disorder was widespread until an effective military presence was established on September 2. Ultimately, the storm and its aftermath caused more than $80 billion in damage and claimed more than 1,800 lives. It was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.