Six Months After Katrina

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Six Months After Katrina

• slow Recovery
• in
• New Orleans

Thomas McGuire, Author, Amsco School Publications
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New Orleans is located within the delta of the
Mississippi River.
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The Big Easy - pre-Katrina
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New Orleans is known for all kinds of local color
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including Mardi Gras!
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New Orleans originated on the broad natural
levees (the high ground) along the Mississippi
River. But the city has expanded into former
swamplands drained and now protected by high,
man-made levees.
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Then came Katrina
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a strong category 3 hurricane when it struck New
Orleans.
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The break in the 17th Street CanalThe next
slide shows the street on the left after the
water was pumped out.
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• Flooding hit both poor and middle class
  neighborhoods, such as Lakeview, shown here. The
  levee is behind the homes to the right.

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Satellite images before and during the flood.
(Dark blue is water.)
City Park
City Park
Astro-dome
Astro-dome
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• Hurricane winds made for tough sailing!

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Red dots show where bodies have been found.
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• Note the highlighted areas of Lakeview and the
  Lower 9th Ward.

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• The power of the flood water was strong
  enough to move cars and even whole houses. This
  street has been partially cleared.

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Rings on buildings show muddy floodwater levels.
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The latest in city-wide architectural style is
the pervasive FEMA blue tarp roof.
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• FEMA trailers are found throughout the city
  even as thousands of trailers remain undelivered.
  Water and electrical power must be available
  before a trailer is delivered and strapped down.

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• Even homes that look relatively undamaged
  have FEMA trailers parked outside. But the real
  story is inside

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• where the walls were soaked with muddy water for
  weeks.
• Once water invades the walls, mold sets in.

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Doors are marked by FEMA personnel recording the
date of inspection and what was found.The O
means that no bodies were foundin this home.
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• Fixing the breaks in the dikes took first
  priority. Meanwhile officials debate costs and
  benefits of a better level of protection from
  re-engineered levees.

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• Katrina and the flooding unleashed its
  greatest wrath in the mostly African-American 9th
  Ward. (You are looking down a street.)

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The force of water is evident. Note that this
house shows no water level, as it was totally
submerged.
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Mississippi Mud settled everywhere.
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• Some people escaped the rising water by
  making holes in their roofs.

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Large parts of the lower 9th still look like a
war zone, even after six months.
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Debris is pushed aside to allow junk cars to be
hauled out.
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Signs like these remind us that these are not
just houses but peoples lives, waiting for the
next phase of a long chain of demolition and
disappointment.
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• When patience and hope falter, humor can help

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..when fact imitates fiction.
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But, for New Orleans, as the Terminator said,
Ill be back!
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Credits

• Thomas McGuire is the author of several of
  Amscos Earth science books including his 2005
  textbook Earth Science The Physical Setting.
  www.amscopub.com
• Special thanks to Dr. James H. McGuire of Tulane
  University and his wife. They sold the brick
  house, shown in slides 18-20, just two months
  before Katrina. They now own a townhouse well
  above sea level on the north shore of Lake
  Ponchartrain. The new owners were waiting for
  their insurance settlement.
• The aerial and satellite image, one taken during
  the storm as well as maps are not original.
• Other images are by the author.
• Authors images taken at the time of
  Mardi Gras, Feb 2006

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Thomas McGuire is a New York textbook, review
book lab book author with Amsco School
Publications of New York, NY. www.amscopub.com To
ms email cavecreekdigital_at_msn.com Other
PowerPoints are available from the same
author The Grand Canyon from the Bottom Up Utah
Slots (Slot canyons of the Colorado Plateau) Cool
Imposters (Pseudo-Glacial landforms) Glacial
Legacies of New York State Transforming
California (The San Andreas Fault)