Katrina

Katrina

Her presence was first felt the night of August 27, 2005. The anticipation of her uninvited arrival had caused a voluntary evacuation of the city of New Orleans, which ultimately changed to a mandatory evacuation the next morning. Many brave residents ignored the command and decided to welcome Katrina at their own homes. Those people that wanted to leave the city but could not, were put on buses and taken to shelters of last resort in the city. The largest number of people took refuge in the Louisiana Superdome, which took in over 20,000 people. The people there were anxious, but nervous of the events that were about to unfold, along with the people that fled.

Katrina made her appearance on the Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm. The strong winds and rain pounded the city. The wind took control and bent trees all the way to the ground until they were uprooted. The wind picked up houses and gave them a new foundation across the street. It left neighborhoods looking like a different place, like a third-world country. The rain was not an equal problem, but a bigger problem. It turned the entire city into a seashore.

The extensive flooding was caused by the levee breaches. The heavy rains and winds exposed the unreliable levees to break and welcome the water into the streets of New Orleans. The flooding eventually covered up 80 percent of the city. From the sky all you could see were rooftops surrounded by dirty water. The rising water caused residents to flee to their attics and rooftops to save their own lives. Some desperate, making large signs and yelling so that passing helicopters can save them.

Meanwhile at the Superdome, life was barely easier. As the flood waters outside increased, more people entered the Superdome, making the conditions worse. Despite increasingly squalid conditions, the population inside continued to grow. The situation inside the building was described as chaotic. After the result of the horrid conditions and damage to the Superdome, the people were evacuated. Most were taken to Houston and others were spread out across the country.

On August 31, the entire gulf coast was ordered a mandatory evacuation. Relief organizations scrambled to locate suitable areas for relocating evacuees on a large scale. Expected to last only two days, the evacuation of remaining evacuees proved