Failures of Hurricane Katrina

Failures of Hurricane Katrina

Introduction:

Hurricane Katrina was one of the largest failures in the history of US, which was the most deadly and the most destructive Atlantic hurricane since 1928. It hit the coast of United States in 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season and was the sixth largest hurricane in the overall recorded history of hurricanes, which left approximately 1, 826 people dead and thousands of people homeless. The damage to property caused by Hurricane Katrina was around US $ 81 billion, which is three times more as compared to that of the Hurricane Andrew in 1992 (Dyson, 2006).

Discussion:

A brief history of the disaster:

The formation of Hurricane Katrina completed on 23rd August, 2005 over the Bahamas and after crossing a few areas and causing destruction it finally hit Louisiana on 29th August, after having gained the status of category three hurricanes. The hurricane caused much damage in Louisiana, after the levee system catastrophically failed to result in flooding of 80% of the city. The water kept standing for weeks afterwards, causing damage to both life and property. However, the worst hit area was that of Mississippi beachfront towns, where there was flooding in 90% of the area within a few hours of arrival of the hurricane. The situation got even worst when boats and casino barges started hitting the cars and houses inland, while the water reached around 6- 12 miles inland.

There have been interminable debates over the fact that who should be blamed for disaster and who were the main responsible individuals behind the failure of Hurricane Katrina. However, the researches on the disaster and the available statistics show that the government holds prime responsibility in the failure of the hurricane Katrina.

Destruction due to Hurricane Katrina and responsibility of the Government:

Hurricane Katrina is the worst failure of civil engineering in the history of United States, which also resulted in a number of lawsuits and cases against US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), as well other concerned agencies. The federal, state and the local governments also faced inquiries and investigation, while being accountable for the losses of life and property that the victims had to face.

Although the Hurricane was significantly predicted and the government agencies were all informed about it, they failed to take appropriate steps to avoid destruction, thus causing problems as well as losses for the general public. A number of agencies were appreciated for their accurate and exact provision of information about the upcoming natural disaster, including United States Coast Guards (USCD), National Hurricane Centre (NHC) and the National Weather Service (NWS).

The government agencies, all local, national and state officials informed the people about the upcoming hurricane and asked them to evacuate the area, but they provided no clue that the levees could breach at the end time and result in a failure. Had the information been provided correctly at the propitious moment, the loss of life and property might have been minimized if not eradicated completely.

Role of the Government:

A closer look at the series of events ...