Hurricane Katrina And It's Aftermath

2 billion1. Just like any other hurricane that had hit the United States before Hurricane Katrina, the loss was significant; it destroyed buildings, took away lives, and left thousands of people homeless. The hurricane and its effects caused enormous devastation upon Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Additionally, America went on its knees economically as a result of the hurricane, and until now, the American economy still feels the effects of the hurricane. Indeed, Hurricane Katrina damaged America in ways bigger than destroying the infrastructure. On the 24th of August, it was named a tropical storm, moving to hit Florida as a category one hurricane on August 25, 2005. On August 27, 2005, the hurricane grew into a category three hurricane and by the end of August 28, 2015, it had gained enough strength to become a category five hurricane.

The storm made landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi on the 29th of August, 2005 and on August 30, 2005, it was downgraded to a tropical depression 5. As the hurricane traveled through Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi, it hit the residents in those areas fatally. 2 Jeremy I. Markedly, African Americans living in the affected areas lived in compromised socio-economic and physical health conditions, and because of the hurricane, other Americans and the world at large saw images of the conditions they lived in. Seeing the differences between the living conditions of the black and white people in the areas affected by the hurricane opened the eyes of the American citizenry to the racial disparities in the country. However, it is to be noted that Hurricane Katrina raised poverty levels among both African Americans and people of other races in the United States.

6, 7, 8 Jeremy I. Levitt and Matthew C. Gasoline and agricultural products, for instance, became very expensive for ordinary citizens to afford. As a result of the hurricane also, many Americans lost their homes, businesses, and belongings. Thus, after the storm, a significant portion of the American population started recollecting their lives and getting back to their former places of residence to rebuild their lives from scratch and start creating wealth again. The portion of the population that lost their homes, belongings and businesses were left destitute after the hurricane. 9 Jeremy I. Although the government claimed that the cost of revamping the levee system to protect New Orleans was high, after the hurricane, it was clear that the damage caused by the storm was more costly than the revamping would have been 13.

The lack of elaborate plans to evacuate people from the hurricane- hit areas also demonstrated a lack of preparedness by relief organizations and the government. Evidently, the effects of the tragedy would have been reduced if the adequate measures had been taken before the storm hit 14. After Hurricane Katrina, the government made efforts to control the effects of any such storm that could hit the United States in the future. New levees and floodwalls that could withstand a 100-year storm were built around New Orleans 15, and more efforts have been made to train more rescue personnel in case of the occurrence of such a catastrophe again. " Research Horizons | Georgia Tech's Research News |. Accessed April 24, 2018. http://www. rh. gatech. Minneapolis, Minn: Compass Point Books, 2007.