Causes Of Hurricane Katrina

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), hurricanes, or tropical cyclones, are storms that usually in warm ocean waters with low vertical shears, or winds that do not change in speed as it travels up in the atmosphere. This phenomenon begins with a small distribution of rain clouds above warm sea water that eventually builds up into a tropical storm, with wind speeds reaching 63 kilometers per hour. Under the right conditions, the storm will gain rapid wind speeds of around 119 kilometers per hour, classifying it as a hurricane (“What are Hurricanes”, 2014). Data collected from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports most tropical cyclones form in regions of warm sea water, such as the

In an article by the NHC, the Saffir-Simpson scale is a rating of a hurricane 's windspeed on a scale of 1 to 5. The more severe the winds, the higher the hurricane will be placed on the scale. The scale is also an estimate of how much damage the hurricane should be expected to cause when it hits land. Category 3 to Category 5 are considered major storms because of how much damage it can potentially cause. Hurricane Katrina was considered a Category 5 hurricane, meaning extreme damage and loss of life was expected, such as power outages and complete destruction of homes and businesses. Hurrican Harvey was considered to be in Category 4, with expected power outage and severe damage ("Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale",

A tropical cyclone report by the NHC reveals that Hurricane Katrina caused 1,833 total fatalities, with a majority of 1,577 reported in Louisiana alone. Mississippi had the second highest amount of recorded deaths of 238, followed by more fatalities in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. However, most of the deaths weren 't due to masses refusing evacuating to safe areas, but rather due to flooding because of the hurricane. In regards to economic cost, Katrina is regarded to be one the costliest tropical cyclones to date, tying in with the more recent Hurricane Harvey (Knab, Rhome, and Brown, 2005). According to the NHC, a total $108 billion in damages was estimated, with 38 percent of the cost being from insured losses 23 percent of the cost from insured losses due to floods. The property damage done by Katrina was racked up in the billions. One of the most affected areas was New Orleans that rendered many homes and businesses inhospitable due to flooding. The 2005 cyclone also left millions of people with no electricity for weeks at a time (Knab, Rhome, and Brown,