Introduction
Hurricane Katrina was a very deadly and destructive category five hurricane that affected the Gulf Coast of the U.S. The hurricane struck in August 2005. It caused extensive damage from eastern Texas to central Florida. Fatal flaws in the engineering of the flood protection system resulted in floods in New Orleans that caused loss of lives. 1,836 people lost their lives as a result of the hurricane and the flooding that followed. Additionally, the hurricane caused extensive damage to property that was estimated to be about $125 billion in damages. The hurricane also had extensive social effects on the people living in the areas that were affected.
Displacement of people
Hurricane Katrina resulted in the separation of people. Many individuals were separated from their families and this mainly affected children who were separated from their parents. There were coordinated attempts by the San Diego Supercomputer Center, Microsoft and the American Red Cross, utilizing various databases to reunite these children with their families that were put in place over the years following the hurricane. Additionally, efforts were made to identify, catalogue and collect the remains of the deceased over the subsequent years. This was done in an effort to try and relieve the anxiety and uncertainty of those who were unaware of the whereabouts of friends and family.
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The displacements resulted in many people losing their places of work, therefore, losing their source of income (Deryugina et al.). They also had their homes destroyed and therefore needed to be evacuated. This mainly affected people living and working in New Orleans. These people expressed their will to permanently relocate to other places but faced discrimination in the areas that they were evacuated to. They were considered to carry diseases, and therefore people avoided interacting with them.
The evacuation resulted in significant demographic effects both on New Orleans and the country. This resulted in an acute drop in the population of New Orleans and an acute increase in areas where the evacuees were relocated to. This placed a strain on the resources and public amenities that were available in the destination areas.
National Guard soldiers that returned home from service in Iraq suffered significantly as a result of the hurricane because they were displaced while some found it difficult to find homes.
Health issues
Hurricane Katrina resulted in an acute shortage of food, water, and sanitation facilities. There were legitimate concerns that the flooding might have caused an outbreak of health conditions affecting the individuals that remained in affected areas. The was extensive contamination of clean drinking water, and food supplies in these areas and most individuals still residing in these areas were at risk of food poisoning, dehydration, communicable diseases such as respiratory illnesses and cholera (Shukla et al.). This situation was, however, adequately handled by the prior preparedness of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in partnership with support service providers, shipping companies and commercial medical suppliers.
As a result of the devastating nature of the Hurricane, survivors and their families developed mental health conditions, the commonest of which were depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. A study conducted in the hardest hit areas of Mississippi and Louisiana indicated that the fraction of individuals with suicidal thoughts increased from 2.8 to 6.4% while the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder increased from 15% to 21% over a period of one year after the storm (Kessler et al.).
Road to recovery
The city of New Orleans has been undertaking efforts to rebuild and recover from the hurricane. The prevalent theme twelve years later is resilience and rebuilding. These provide hope to the residents of New Orleans both living locally and in other areas. Five years after the hurricane, the last of the flood waters were drained out of New Orleans and people were able to return to the city. Most families returned to find their homes totally destroyed while others preferred to remain in the areas where they had evacuated to. Recovery has mainly been determined by cultural ties, access to sustainable housing after the hurricane and financial resources. The hurricane thus disproportionately affected poor, largely black families that lived in low-lying areas. They have had a comparatively harder journey towards recovery.
- Deryugina, Tatyana et al. “The Economic Impact of Hurricane Katrina On Its Victims: Evidence from Individual Tax Returns”. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, vol 10, no. 2, 2018, pp. 202-233. American Economic Association
- Kessler, R C et al. “Trends in Mental Illness and Suicidality After Hurricane Katrina”. Molecular Psychiatry, vol 13, no. 4, 2008, pp. 374-384. Springer Nature
- Shukla, Mihir A. et al. “Infectious Diseases in The Aftermath of Hurricanes in The United States”. Current Tropical Medicine Reports, vol 5, no. 4, 2018, pp. 217-223. Springer Nature America, Inc
