WRITING PLAN FOR THE SOCIAL EFFECTS OF HURRICANCE KATRINA IN THE GULF REGION - Essay Example

Hurricane Katrina sped up the rate of wetland destruction in the Gulf region and along the coast of Louisiana. In various areas of the Mississippi River Delta Basin, there were losses of about half of the regional land mass due to the powerful storm surge witnessed in the advent of Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina affected people in many ways, socially and otherwise. A lot of lives were lost initially, and numerous people also had their lives and daily activities disrupted. Not only did Hurricane Katrina cause damage to the coastline, the hurricane also affected plants and wildlife and in the region, and damaged a lot of buildings, businesses, homes, power lines, schools , roads and bridges.

The Hurricane left hundreds of thousands of people without any way to get their homes or go to work, and it separated many from their loved ones and relatives, as well as inflicting mental and physical distress on the people who witnessed this storm and the after-effects of the hurricane. One major cause of death as a result of Hurricane Katrina was drowning. Elderly people of 75 years of age and above were the ones mostly affected by the disaster. It is notable that disaster preparedness efforts for the future should place emphasis on the evacuation and care provision for the more vulnerable populations, including people who may be in hospitals or in long-term care facilities.

“Improving mortality reporting timeliness will enable response teams to provide appropriate interventions to these populations and to prepare and implement preventive measures before subsequent disasters.” (Reed, J. & Theiss, M. 2005) During the days and weeks following Hurricane Katrina, there was rapid deterioration in conditions in the gulf region. For example, New Orleans hospitals and extreme difficulties in the evacuation of their existing patients, hospitals in the downtown New Orleans area were also reportedly not admitting new patients in the days following Hurricane Katrina.

” (Nossiter, Adam. 2005) In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, disaster response may have limited precision of documenting all the victims, although this is not likely to be a large difference. “It is possible that some people who died during the storm were never found or documented. Second, classifying people who were evacuated and later died from Katrina-related causes is inherently difficult, especially as regards older people who had serious preexisting medical conditions.” (Brinkley, D. 2007). After hurricane Katrina, numerous evacuees from the gulf region, were faced with staying for extended periods of time with no income, and destroyed or severely damaged homes.

This group also had little or no hope of recovering their possessions, and some started to express the desires to be resettled elsewhere permanently. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, “approximately 8,000 animals were rescued and brought to temporary shelters set up at the Lamar-Dixon Exposition Center in Gonzales, Louisiana, or the Parker Coliseum at Louisiana State University. (Press Release. "Reviewing Louisiana Animal Evacuation And Rescue." Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2005.) Hurricane Katrina also significantly affected the popularity of Katrina as a name for babies.

According to the Social Security Administration, “Katrina, which had ranked as the 281st female baby name in 2004, dropped down to 382nd most popular name in 2006, 600th most popular name in 2007, and 815th most popular name in 2009.” (Social Security Administration) This was a surprising turn of events, because in the past, major hurricanes like Hurricane Camille which happened in 1969, usually made the names of such