Factors that Influenced Hurricane Katrina - Research Paper Example

?Running Head: HURRICANE KATRINA Hurricane Katrina Hurricanes are tropical storms and are specifically known to occur in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. These storms have cyclonic wind circulation and are very destructive in nature. Regarding the structure of hurricane not much is known but frequent showers, light winds and warm, moist air are some conditions that are responsible for formation of hurricanes. (Tannehill, 1934, pp. 3, 4) On 29th August, 2005, at daybreak Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. It is known to be the most devastating hurricane to strike in the history of the United States. It completely destroyed vast regions including New Orleans and Mississippi. It has been estimated that more than 1,700 people were killed and some thousands were found to be misplaced. Going by the records, Hurricane Katrina is regarded as the costliest storm because the damages caused by it were worth billions of dollars. The devastation brought about by Hurricane Katrina had maximum effect on the poor population. The storm exposed the abject poverty, political inefficiency and longstanding corruption in the southern states of USA. (Laforet, 2010) Factors that influenced Hurricane Katrina Scientists have proved that formation of tropical hurricanes like Hurricane Katrina is facilitated by the warming of waters of the oceans. Anthropogenic activities are responsible for global warming by way of massive emissions of dioxide of carbon, methane and other gases into the atmosphere. The scientists have estimated that huge loss of wetlands in the southeast of USA which is important for maintaining ecological balance is one factor that influenced the devastation caused the Hurricane Katrina. This loss of wetlands in New Orleans city was partly caused by man’s actions. When one of the dikes surrounding the city broke the city was left to remain submerged in the waters. No step was taken to clear the water. Three years prior to the Hurricane Katrina, the government designed a plan for reducing the destructive effect that can be caused by future floods and storms. The plan was to strengthen the levees surrounding the New Orleans city and execution of the plan needed an amount of $14 billion. Although storms of massive strength were already predicted, the Bush administration approved a much lower budget of $2 billion for the plan. Their excuse was that funds were needed for the security of their country and for the war in Iraq. Now that the government has demonstrated its indifference towards the woes of the people and its inability to make proper Risk Management Plans, Bush has tried to justify himself by explaining that it was not possible to anticipate the rupture of the levees which guarded the New Orleans city. (Valenzuela, 2005) Preventive Measures that could be taken Voices have been raised to declare that nothing could have been done to prevent the massive destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. Such declarations cannot be considered as true and rather they are completely wrong. Although all damages could not have been averted, concrete and planned measures could be taken to minimise the effect of the storm. The areas that were destroyed by the hurricane lie along a path that has already suffered by destructive hurricanes many times in the past. In spite of that nothing was done to prevent the devastating event like Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans is one of the most vulnerable areas. It is surrounded by water on three sides and it lies below sea level. For many years there has been warning from engineers and scientists that if a major hurricane occurs, it would have devastating effect on New Orleans city which is guarded only by a network of levees and pumps. After the destruction caused by Hurricane Betsy in 1965, the levee system structure was altered to survive the force of category three hurricane, but Hurricane Katrina was of category four which is much stronger in force. It was predicted by the scientists that a hurricane of category four or five could hit the city at any time, but government officials failed to garner the resources needed for strengthening the levee system to survive the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina. The officials even failed to raise the barriers that could prevent the floods that destroyed the Lower Ninth Ward. There were pumps on which New Orleans city depended to remove water from the city and push water uphill and back into the surrounding water bodies – the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain. However, these pumps were run by electricity and when the Hurricane Katrina struck these pumps ceased to function as electricity was entirely cut off. Government officials claimed that modifying the entire structure of levee system to withstand a hurricane of category four or five would have been expensive, but it has been now seen that the cost would have been much less than the losses incurred due to the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. As days passed after the Hurricane Katrina struck the city, it was revealed if proper measures could have been taken then the tragedy could have been adequately reduced. The priorities of the government and the American ruling class lie on different planes and so resources have not been assembled to reform the social infrastructure in New Orleans city (Kay, 2005). For the war in Iraq this same government has been able to spend hundreds of billions of dollars, but they did not make it their priority to remove the residents of New Orleans city and it was predicted for days by scientists that the city would be struck by a massive and enormously destructive storm. The government had numerous and various types of helicopters and transport planes in Iraq but no steps were taken to evacuate New Orleans city and there the people were forced to remain stuffed into the sports stadium. Over 100,000 people could not leave the city because of lack of transport. The population included people of abject poverty and they could not own a car. The disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina put forward the disparities in the social system and the treatment given to the poor people. These people who reside in areas which are prone to be struck by disasters are left in extreme and needless danger of calamity and death. It was seen on TV that many black people were trapped in New Orleans city and in other places of potential danger. Even before Hurricane Katrina had occurred Louisiana’s governor Blanco gave power to appropriate authorities to suspend civil liberties. Emergency of national stature was declared by Federal Homeland Security officials. Media people who fought for survival were declared as armed gangs. A day for praying for the sufferers of Hurricane Katrina was called by Louisiana’s governor. The government, instead of asking people to pray, should be fulfilling the needs of the common people and should be arranging for help from other people. The government should mobilise human beings to prevent the disaster that looms above them. (Hurricane Katrina: The People Did Not and Do Not Have to Die, 2005). In regards to the Hurricane Katrina, Hirschhorn comments, ‘The 2005 Katrina catastrophe should go down in American history as a wakeup call about our government’s deterioration. As New Orleans quickly flooded, stranded and suffering victims asked “How can this be happening in the United States”’ (Hirschhorn, 2005). The vulnerabilities of the levees was already predicted and hence could be corrected. After conducting investigation of the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, it was found that if Bush would have got involved in the management crisis much earlier then federal assets could be promptly mobilised to evacuate the flooded city of New Orleans (House Report: Govt. Could Have Prevented Katrina Deaths, 2005). The findings from the investigation conclude that the biggest failure of the federal government was that it could not recognise the devastating potential of Hurricane Katrina as it arrived. References 1. Hirschhorn, J. S. (2005) Hurricane Katrina: a democracy disaster, Just Response, retrieved on July 18, 2011 from: http://www.justresponse.net/Hirschhorn052.html 2. Hurricane Katrina: The People Did Not and Do Not Have to Die (2005), revcom.us, retrieved on July 18, 2011 from: http://revcom.us/a/014/hurricane_e.htm 3. “House Report: Gov’t Could Have Prevented Katrina Deaths” (2006), Fox News, 15th February, 2006, retrieved on July 18, 2011 from: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,184922,00.html 4. Kay, J. (2005), “Hurricane Katrina: a calamity compounded by poverty and neglect”, World Socialist Web Site, retrieved on July 18, 2011 from: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/aug2005/katr-a31.shtml 5. Laforet, V. (2010), “Hurricane Katrina”, The New York Times, retrieved on July 18, 2011 from: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/h/hurricane_katrina/index.html 6. Tannehill, I. H. (1934), The Hurricane, Washington, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture 7. Valenzuela, M. P. (2005), “Could the Fury of Katrina Have Been Avoided?”, Daily Granma, 12th July, 2011 from: http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/english/opinion/art04.html Read More