-Hurricane Katrina-

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-Hurricane Katrina-
The United States worst natural disaster to date
has created situations and scenes similar to
those seen in the aftermath of the Asian Tsunami
last December. Hurricane Katrina has left a
legacy of ruin behind, and the worlds only
superpower is struggling to cope.
How powerful was the hurricane? How did it form?
What did it do? What was the response?
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Hurricane Katrina passing Florida on the far
right.
What is a hurricane? -A hurricane is a type of
tropical cyclone- Structurally, a tropical
cyclone is a large, rotating system of clouds,
wind and thunderstorm activity. The primary
energy source of a tropical cyclone is the
release of the heat of condensation from water
vapor condensing at high altitudes. Because of
this, a tropical cyclone can be thought of as a
giant vertical heat engine. The ingredients for a
tropical cyclone include a pre-existing weather
disturbance, warm tropical oceans, moisture, and
relatively light winds aloft. If the right
conditions persist long enough, they can combine
to produce the violent winds, incredible waves,
torrential rains, and floods associated with this
phenomenon. In order to continue to drive its
heat engine, a tropical cyclone must remain over
warm water, which provides the atmospheric
moisture needed. The evaporation of this moisture
is driven by the high winds and reduced
atmospheric pressure present in the storm,
resulting in a sustaining cycle. As a result,
when a tropical cyclone passes over land, its
strength will diminish rapidly.

• How do Tropical Storms form?
• -A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone-
• Five factors are necessary to make tropical
  cyclone formation possible
• Sea surface temperatures above 26.5 degrees
  Celsius to at least a depth of 50 meters. Warm
  waters are the energy source for tropical
  cyclones. When these storms move over land or
  cooler areas of water they weaken rapidly.
• Upper level conditions must be conducive to
  thunderstorm formation. Temperatures in the
  atmosphere must decrease quickly with height, and
  the mid-troposphere (the lowermost section of
  Earths atmosphere) must be relatively moist.
• A pre-existing weather disturbance. This is most
  frequently provided by tropical
  wavesnon-rotating areas of thunderstorms that
  move through the world's tropical oceans.
• A distance of approximately 10 degrees or more
  from the equator, so that the Coriolis Effect is
  strong enough to initiate the cyclone's rotation.
  
• Lack of vertical wind shear (change in wind
  velocity over height). High levels of wind shear
  can break apart the vertical structure of a
  tropical cyclone.
• The thermal image here shows that the hurricane
  is relatively warm with the exception of its eye
  (the central point of circulation). This well
  contains sinking air, and although the weather
  inside the eye is calm, the sinking air reduces
  temperatures considerably.

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-Timeline-
August 23, 2005 - The U.S. National Hurricane
Centre (NHC) issues a statement saying that
Tropical Depression Twelve had formed over the
southeastern Bahamas. August 24 morning - The
storm system is upgraded to Tropical Storm
Katrina. August 25 - The storm is upgraded to
become the fourth hurricane of the 2005 season.
First landfall August 25 630PM - Katrina makes
its first landfall in Florida as a Category 1
hurricane. At least 11 deaths in Florida are
attributed to the storm. August 26 A State of
Emergency is declared for the state of
Louisiana August 27 Katrina is upgraded to a
Category 3 hurricane. New Orleans Mayor Ray
Nagin calls for a voluntary evacuation of the
city. The emergency plans rely on citizens to
bring their own 3-day supply of food and water to
the Superdome and Convention Center. Current
Louisiana Emergency Evacuation guidelines allow
use of public school buses. It is currently
disputed whether or not they were used to
transport the poor to the superdome. National
Hurricane Director Max Mayfield and President
Bush call on Mayor Nagin to declare a mandatory
evacuation. August 28 1240AM CDT - Katrina
becomes a Category 4 hurricane. 7AM CDT -
NWS/NOAA announces Katrina is a Category 5
hurricane. 10AM CDT National Weather Service
issues a bulletin predicting "devastating"
damage. 10AM CDT - Mandatory evacuation is
ordered for New Orleans City by Mayor Nagin and
Governor Blanco after having been requested the
previous day by National Hurricane Director Max
Mayfield and President George Bush. However,
neither of these sources are primary and other
sources for this information seem to be missing.
No public transportation is afforded the mostly
poor citizens contrary to what the disaster plans
called for. However, Nagin urged those people to
seek rides with friends, family, neighbors and
church members. Those who could not find rides
were urged to get to the Superdome as quickly as
possible. New Orleans Regional Transit Authority
buses were scheduled to ferry people to the dome
from 12 locations around the city, although these
are quickly overwhelmed. 1PM CDT - Katrina
becomes a Category 5 hurricane with maximum
sustained wind speeds of 175 mph and gusts up to
215 mph. What normally takes 2 hours to drive to
central Louisiana, becomes a 10 hour crawl.
August 29 8AM CDT - New Orleans Rising water on
both sides of the Industrial Canal 9AM CDT - New
Orleans 6-8 feet of water in the Lower Ninth
Ward. 11AM CDT - New Orleans 10 feet of water
in St. Bernard. 2PM CDT - New Orleans officials
publicly confirm 17th Street Canal breach. August
30 130AM CDT - CNN reports that a levee on the
17th Street Canal, which connects into Lake
Pontchartrain, suffered a two city-block wide
breach. It is later reported that a total of
three levees are breached. Noon CDT - Homeland
Security Secretary Michael Chertoff becomes aware
that the New Orleans levee breaches cannot be
plugged. 10PM CDT - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin
announces that the planned sandbagging of the
17th Street levee breach has failed. 80 percent
of New Orleans is underwater. Many instances of
looting, including looting by police officers,
reported in the city of New Orleans. The U.S.
military moves additional ships and helicopters
to the region. Hurricane Katrina gets downgraded
to a tropical depression. August 31 1000AM
Governor Blanco finally makes the request for
President Bush to send Federal troops to help
with evacuations and rescues. Air Force One
views the devastation from the air. Governor
Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana orders that all of
New Orleans, including the Superdome, be
evacuated. First report of relief supplies
delivered to Superdome. New Orleans's 1,500
member police force is ordered to abandon search
and rescue missions and turn their attention
toward controlling the widespread looting and a
curfew is placed in effect. Mayor Ray Nagin calls
for increased federal assistance. The National
Guard remain under their respective governors'
control, which enables them to provide
law-enforcement support in the affected
regions. State workers begin work at closing 17th
Street Canal breach, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
adds resources to the task. 11PM EDT - U.S.
government weather officials announce that the
center of the remnant low of what was Katrina has
been completely absorbed by a frontal boundary in
southeastern Canada, with no discernible
circulation. The remnants of the hurricane cause
roads in northern Quebec to be sectioned by heavy
rainfall, isolating the north shore communities
for several days.
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-Facts and Figures-
Duration Aug. 23 - 31, 2005 Highest winds 175 mph
(280 km/h) sustained Damages-Total Damages
estimated as high as 200 billion (Costliest
Atlantic hurricane of all time) Fatalities 854,
still rising. Immediate and Short-Term
Effects 80 of New Orleans submerged death toll
could reach 100,000 Category 5 winds destroyed
smaller buildings, heavily damaged larger
buildings Infrastructure mostly damaged or
submerged, Transport Links inoperable burst
levees are causing the spread of toxic
depositions and chemicals suspended in the
floodwaters, polluting lakes and endangering
lives. Areas affected Bahamas, South Florida,
Louisiana (especially Greater New Orleans),
Mississippi, Alabama, Florida Panhandle -Part of
the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season- Global
Warming linked to increasing number of extreme
tropical storms warmer waters fuel the larger
hurricanes
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-Anarchy in the Aftermath-
-Looting and Crime- Shortly after the hurricane
ended on August 30th, some residents of New
Orleans who remained in the city began looting
stores. Drug, convenience, clothing, and jewelry
stores in the French Quarter and on Canal Street
were hardest hit. "The looting is out of control.
The French Quarter has been attacked,"
Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson said. "We're using
exhausted, scarce police to control looting when
they should be used for search and rescue while
we still have people on rooftops." By September
1st, conditions worsened. A national guardsman
was wounded by a shooting outside the Superdome.
Reports of carjacking, thefts, and rapes flooded
the news. Nearly 5,000 National Guard troops were
mobilized in Louisiana. "These troops know how to
shoot and kill and I expect they will," Kathleen
Blanco said. Congressman Jefferson told ABC
News, "There was shooting going on. There was
sniping going on. Over the first week of
September, law and order was gradually restored
to the city. " A number of arrests were made near
the New Orleans Convention Center. The citywide
anarchy disrupted relief efforts, and many of the
dead were left lying in the streets, not
dissimilar from the streets in Sumatra after the
Asian Tsunami last year. Many civilians were
encouraged to possess a firearm or weapon to
defend themselves with until order was
restored. The national response to the natural
disaster was considered to be inadequate the
evacuation plans were inappropriate for this kind
of disaster, and were issued much later than they
should have been the effects of a hurricane on
New Orleans were known, yet nothing was done to
prepare for such an event, including reinforcing
the levees.
-Health concerns- Aside from the lack of water,
food, shelter and sanitation facilities, there is
growing concern that the prolonged flooding will
lead to an outbreak of health problems for those
who remain in the hurricane-affected areas. In
addition to dehydration and food poisoning, there
is also a potential for communicable disease
outbreaks of diarrhea and respiratory illness,
all related to the growing contamination of food
and drinking water supplies in the area. In all
likelihood, the death toll will rise as current
conditions in the area persist. Before the
hurricane, government health officials prepared
to respond, and the Centres for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) began sending medical
emergency supplies to locations near the
worst-hit area within 48 hours after
landfall. There is concern the chemical plants
and refineries in the area could have released
their contents into the floodwaters. People who
suffer from allergies or lung disorders, such as
asthma, will have health complications due to
toxic mold and airborne irritants. On Septmber
6th it was reported that Escherichia coli (E.
coli) had been detected at unsafe levels in the
waters that flooded New Orleans. The CDC reported
on September 7th that five people had died of
bacterial infection from drinking water
contaminated with Vibrio Vulnificus, a bacterium
from the Gulf of Mexico. Wide outbreaks of severe
infectious diseases such as cholera and dysentery
are not considered likely because such illnesses
are not endemic in the United States.
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-Response National and International-
Response Procedures -Clockwise from top
right- Helicopters drop sandbags into the flooded
areas in an attempt to stop the floodwater
reaching other areas of New Orleans. Floodwater
is being pumped out of the city, beginning the
long draining process. Emergency workers begin
the task of locating and identifying the dead
under the ruins and waters. Military convoys
transport much-needed supplies into the city.
These supplies, including medical and food
supplies, have come from other countries other
than the U.S., such as Russia, Canada and
China. A man lays dead on the roof of a car, too
late to be rescued by the sparse and scattered
emergency services. The National Guard breach
doorways to enforce the mandatory evacuation,
which many believe was issued far too late. With
such a large area of devastation to cover, and
with 80 of New Orleans still submerged, it is
probable that it will take more than a year for
the city to return to some sort of normality,
with infrastructure repaired and transport links
usable once again.