In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. At winds of 100-140 mph and stretching some 400 miles across. Katrina caused 100 billion dollars worth of damage and at least 1,245 people died. The storm itself did a great deal of damage, but the aftermath of Katrina was catastrophic.
Among the three states that were affected, Louisiana was left under water and 1,577 people dead. More than 110,000 homes and another 20,000 plus businesses, all lay under water after the collapse of the area's flood protection. More than 11 years ago Hurricane Katrina was the worst urban disaster in modern American history.
Now, even though Mississippi and Alabama were affected by Hurricane Katrina, I chose Louisiana to focus on due to the recent state of the floodings in Southern Louisiana. This flood is being called the worst natural disaster in the US since Hurricane Sandy. Only 13 deaths have been reported as a result of the flooding. I don't really know how accurate that number is, but 13 was the number reported by news sources.
Heavy overnight rains caused local rivers and streams to jump their banks and floodwaters went into the surrounding towns. In three days more than 20 inches of rain fell in and around East Baton Rouge, and in some regions as much as two feet of rain fell in 48 hours. It was estimated that about 146,000 homes were damaged by the flooding and at least 30,000 were evacuated, while 11,000 people looked for refuge in about 70 shelters. American Red Cross volunteers traveled to Louisiana with other groups to aid the victims of the 2016 flooding. Over a 100,000 people and households have applied to FEMA and they have approved $132 million for assistance.
Louisiana, where storm scares remain nearly 11 years later and yet, more massive flooding has left Southern Louisiana in a ruined state. Despite all the recovery efforts from FEMA for Hurricane Katrina, it will be more of a challenging percentage of damage done by the recent floodings. Even though reports and media news say that FEMA is providing recovery resources, remember they were slow to help after Hurricane Katrina. Hopefully, they have learned their lesson from that and make better and faster efforts to help the flood victims of Louisiana. Of course, White New Orleans has recovered from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. However, Black New Orleans has not been touched. Let's not forget about the lives destroyed by these horrible disasters, let's not forget about Louisiana.
