Economic Impact Of Hurricane Katrina

In 2005 the world was shaken by a horrible storm that hit our coast. Hurricane Katrina was a category five storm that tore through the Gulf Coast. The storm occurred August 23rd, 2005 until August 31st, 2005. Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes to ever hit the United States. An estimated 1,833 people died in the hurricane and the flooding that followed in late August 2005, and millions of others were left homeless along the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans (Zimmerman). Hurricane Katrina in the end had done about $100 billion dollars in damage. The government was not prepared for the impact of the hurricane. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took days to establish operations in New Orleans, and even then did not seem

GDP meaning Gross Domestic Product dropped when Katrina hit. GDP is defined as the broadest quantitative measure of a nation 's total economic activity. More specifically, GDP represents the monetary value of all goods and services produced within a nation 's geographic borders over a specified period of time (Gross.). This basically means that GDP describes what is exactly going on threw the economy, what goods are being produced and how fast they are being bought. Before Katrina GDP was about 3.8% third quarter. After it plummeted to 1.3% in the fourth quarter

Hurricane Katrina affected 19% of U.S. oil production (Amadeo). The United States had to raise prices and downsize the quantity of how much was being sold. Hurricane Katrina caused severe damage to U.S.refinery and production capacity in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil prices briefly spiked to above $70 per barrel before dropping after President Bush decided to release 30 million gallons from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) (Karp). With oil pricing increasing inflation occurs in that product. Oil is a necessity for most people. Also as oil prices went up gas prices increased as well. Hurricane Katrina affected the oil and gas prices because the pipelines that ran the gas and oil through Louisiana were highly affected by the storm and actually shut down for about a month. Also the price increases because the companies and employees that produced the oil were displaced and missing. “There are tens of thousands of our employees who live in the area. In many cases, our companies are still trying to track down their own employees, which, of course, affects our ability to recover. Many people have lost properties or loved ones, and have other and bigger issues to deal with”