The+Devastation+of+Katrina

On August 28, 2005 at 7:10 A.M a hurricane made landfall in south Louisiana. It was categorized as a Category 3 hurricane. The winds near the eye were estimated to be 125 mph. By the end of the day, the city of New Orleans would remember this hurricane forever, for it turned into a Category 5 with winds up to 175 mph (which is the second highest recorded hurricane along the Gulf of Mexico and the sixth highest in the Atlantic), and destroyed the entire city. Hurricane Katrina would go down history as the most economically destructive hurricane. To help you understand just how destructive Hurricane Katrina was, before it Hurricane Andrew was the most economically destructive hurricane. It cost the US government approximately $21 billion in repair costs. Hurricane Katrina cost the US government approximately $110 billion in repair. That is more then five times the amount of Hurricane Andrew. The storm surge of Hurricane Katrina overall was 12 feet; however, in New Orleans it was an estimated 22 feet. A storm surge is how high a storm increases the sea level along the coast. To better understand the destruction that Hurricane Katrina brought, view the following videos: media type="youtube" key="pvoEiBnpCc8?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

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What made New Orleans suffer so much was not just the devastating hurricane, but the fact that Katrina destroyed New Orleans's "levees". A levee is an embankment that prevents the overflow of a river. New Orleans needed many of these because it is actually located below sea level. Now, what actually happened in Katrina was that New Orleans replaced some of the local levees with a 2 foot thick wall. Their perspective was that these walls would hopefully widen the local canals. However, when Hurricane Katrina struck, these walls could not hold such a storm and were destroyed.

Although Katrina was a devastating experience, it was also a learning experience for New Orleans. It sparked a review and rebuilding of the levees, so that they will have the strength to withstand future hurricanes like Katrina.