Hurricane Katrina Unpreparedness

Danny Glover once stated, “When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf and the floodwaters rose and tore through New Orleans, it did not turn the region into a Third World country…it revealed one” (Glover). As the winds reached speeds of 100 to 140 miles per hour, water crashed against the levees, which in turn broke them, and flooded 80% of Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina’s peak was a category five, but disintegrated into a category three just before landfall. The third deadliest hurricane is what Hurricane Katrina achieved. In the wake of a dark time, Hurricane Katrina proved to America how crucial preparedness is. Three reasons Hurricane Katrina proved unpreparedness include; The New Orleans poorly built levee system, the prolonged displacement

Furthermore, Hurricane Katrina effected over a million people, thousands remained displaced a month after the storm passed, since the body count outweighed the number of shelters. Prior to landfall, the doors to the Superdome opened and approximately 16,000 people sought refuge there, but 16,000 would not even make a dent in 70,000 people who sought shelter after the storm. After Katrina took her path through the south (dissipating near the Great Lakes), the damage continued. As the shelters arose, FEMA officials became aware with that fact that their accommodations would not be enough. “More than one million people in the Gulf region were displaced by the storm. At their peak hurricane relief shelters housed 273,000 people. Later, approximately 114,000 households were housed in FEMA trailers” (“Hurricane Katrina”). Even the Governor of Louisiana projected the downfall of the safety camps. “The shelters will end up probably without electricity or with minimum electricity from generators in the end (United States et al.). Consequently, countless numbers of people needed to look for help elsewhere, whether it meant to uproot and settle down within another state, fend for themselves in a harsh and dangerous time or even wait it out and hope for

In Conclusion, a handful of things can battle for the top spot of what best displays unpreparedness, but above them all lies something beyond the control of humans, a natural disaster called Hurricane Katrina. After all, a natural disaster is the epitome of unpreparedness since humans cannot bend and shape the event to our liking, it either forms to become stronger, dissipates, or changes path. Hurricane Katrina proved to America that being prepared for something out of our grasp is something to worry about. The reasons stated above could have all remained avoided if the necessary precautions were planned out. The levees could have easily been upgraded, the action of the United States government and FEMA could have shifted into a higher gear, and lastly, the evacuation plans were announced to slow. The storm itself did a great deal of damage, but its aftermath was catastrophic due to the lack of