Hurricane Katrina: A Modern American Disaster

today's video is brought to you by bespoke  post bespoke post is a monthly membership   club delivering awesome boxes of top shelf  goods from under the radar brands every   month bespoke post introduces its members to  cool new products outdoor gear bar wear home   and kitchen goods clothing and more even live  oysters based on a preference quiz that they   fill out it's free to join and you can skip a  month any time they just sent me their copper   box which is so named because of these copper  cups that come with it these are really   weighty nice things chin chin what you're  going to do with these is make a moscow mule   yes you got this ginger syrup that goes along  with it from something called liberinko fiery   ginger syrup this is a proper size bottle it's no  joke and you might be thinking more simon i need   some crushed ice to go with my moscow mule well  no problem i mean they don't ship you the ice but   they do ship you a canvas bag which you push they  put the ice into 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link below and  enter geographics 20 at checkout and now today's video hurricanes are unique among natural  disasters in that their path of destruction   can be projected hours or days in advance  unlike tornadoes or earthquakes which give   little to no warning where they will strike  meteorologists can watch the movement of a   hurricane and predict fairly accurately what areas  they're going to affect but predictions can only   do so much and they can't account for failings  in government engineering or disaster response   by emergency officials this is what happened  in august 2005 when hurricane katrina almost   destroyed the city of new orleans and claimed over  1 500 lives people could not understand how so   many died when the weather services told everyone  where the storm would hit and how bad it was going   to be the truth is the stage for the disaster was  set decades before katrina was ever born like a   blocked tower with a shaky foundation that  only needs a breath of wind to knock it over   haruka katrina proved considerably more than  a breath of wind and americans can only hope   that the lessons it taught will prevent another  disaster of its kind from ever happening again   new orleans louisiana is one of the most  interesting cities in the united states   unlike the cities along the atlantic coast largely  founded and populated by british settlers or   the ones in the west first settled by spanish  colonists new orleans was founded by the french   in 1718 and during the colonial era it trailed  only quebec as the most important settlement   in france's north american possessions new orleans  was sold to the united states along with the rest   of the louisiana territory in 1803 and almost  immediately became the most important city in   the american south new orleans as french heritage  can be seen today in the city's creole and cajun   populations descendants of french colonists before  louisiana became a part of the united states new   orleans has a multilingual multi-ethnic flavor to  it not seen anywhere else it draws on west african   french spanish native american and american  southern influences to create a culture not   seen anywhere else it is celebrated for its food  like gumbo and jambalaya its unique architecture   especially in the french quarter it's jazz music  which is played everywhere including at funerals   and even for its dialect with residents speaking  in an accent that can only be described as pretty   colorful perhaps what is most celebrated about  new orleans is its ability to party the city has   latched on to the traditional french holiday of  mardi gras the last day before the start of lent   and made it its own the celebration of mardi gras  new orleans is wild especially on bourbon street   where revellers can watch parades of colorfully  dressed up characters tossing beheaded necklaces   into the crowd and indecent exposure is just a  fact of life mardi gras is worth over a billion   dollars to the city annually making up 2 of its  gdp another unique quirk about new orleans lies   in its geography the city is sandwiched between  the mississippi river and lake panchatrain   surrounded on three sides by water as it expanded  in the 20th century land that had formerly been   marshland was drained to provide more building  space this combined with the fact that large parts   of the city are slowly sinking a process called  subsistence as water is drained out of the soil   and the earth compacts means that more than half  of new orleans actually lies below sea level   this has an effect on the city's architecture as  there are few basements in new orleans and the   city's cemeteries are filled with above-ground  tombs instead of burial plots to protect new   orleans from the obvious risk of flooding the  u.s army corps of engineers responsible for flood   control in the united states constructed a series  of earthen embankments and concrete walls called   levees that are supposed to hold back the  water earthen levees and down walls have been   used for hundreds of years and are usually very  strong as long as water doesn't compromise the   internal structure such as by flowing over  the top of it or seeping into the sides   among the largest and most destructive forces on  planet earth are tropical cyclones these monster   storms can be hundreds of miles in diameter being  visible from space they form when low pressure air   from cooler parts of the planet blows over warm  tropical seas forming bands of thunderstorms if   enough of these storms form at the same time they  can come together into one huge storm that begins   to rotate like a washing machine as it interacts  with earth's rotation as long as the storm   remains above warm ocean water it can build in  intensity with stronger and stronger wind speeds   these storms occur all over the world though  they are called different things depending   on where they form in the south pacific and indian  oceans they are simply called cyclones in the   north west pacific they're known as typhoons and  in the atlantic and northeast and pacific oceans   they're called hurricanes along the eastern  seaboards and gulf coasts of the united states   hurricane season lasts from june to november  and peaks in intensity in august and september   multiple storms form out at the atlantic  ocean and travel westward sometimes petering   out before reaching land and sometimes making  landfall either in the caribbean island the   coastline of the united states or mexico the  national hurricane center which tracks these   storms has gotten very good at predicting what  path each storm is going to take so that they can   warn the populations affected to prepare either by  hunkering down or in the case of severe hurricanes   to evacuate as a result though hurricanes strike  with alarming frequency and do a lot of damage   there are relatively few deaths as a result  of them especially in the united states   2005 was a busier than usual season for the  national hurricane center with the first storm   forming in early june and by the last week of  august there are only been 10 storms large enough   to be given names corresponding to letters of the  alphabet the first storm being named arlene ii   brett and so on on august 23rd a new storm  system developed over the southeastern bahamas   as it gained power it was christened katrina  and the nhc warned residents of southern florida   to brace for impact on august 25th the storm  became a category one hurricane according to the   sofia simpson wind scale used to measure a  tropical storm's intensity and two hours later it   made landfall in south florida causing 500 million  dollars in damage and killing 14 people that might   have been the end of it except that instead of  turning north and heading inland the storm passed   over florida and entered the gulf of mexico now  with a fresh supply of warm water defeated katrina   rapidly intensified and meteorologists quickly  realized that they had a monster on their hands on the morning of august 28th katrina became  powerful enough to be classified as a category   5 hurricane the most severe rating a storm can  have it had a maximum recorded wind speed of 175   miles per hour making it one of the most intense  storms meteorologists had ever seen at the same   time they realized that the storm was finally  turning to the north and the city of new orleans   was likely to suffer a direct hit that morning the  national weather service issued a strongly worded   bulletin that warned residents of new orleans what  they could expect from katrina most of the area   will be uninhabitable for weeks perhaps longer at  least one half of well-constructed homes will have   roof and wall failure all gabled roofs will fall  leaving those homes severely damaged or destroyed   the majority of industrial buildings will  become non-functional partial to complete   wall and roof failure is expected all wood-framed  low-rising apartment buildings will be destroyed   concrete block low-rise apartments will sustain  major damage including some ball and roof failure   high-rise office and apartment buildings will sway  dangerously a few to the point of total collapse   all windows will be blown out airborne debris will  be widespread and may include heavy items such as   household appliances and even light vehicles  sport utility vehicles and light trucks will   be moved the blown debris will create additional  destruction persons pets and livestock exposed   the winds will face certain death if struck power  outages will last for weeks as most power poles   will be down and transformers destroyed water  shortages will make human suffering incredible   by modern standards at the same time the mayor  of new orleans ray nagin ordered a mandatory   evacuation of the city everyone needed to leave  and head inland immediately eight other louisiana   parishes as well as the coastal counties  in the neighboring mississippi and alabama   followed suit in total over 1.2 million people  were either asked or ordered to leave their homes   between 80 and 90 of new orleans population  complied with the order and overnight the one's   bustling city resembled a ghost town but not  everyone left many residents either refused or   were unable to evacuate reasons why were varied  some believed their homes were strong enough to   withstand the storm and wanted to protect their  property some feared being stuck in a long traffic   jam when the storm hit and many of the city's  poorest residents simply lacked the means to leave   a dozen strong buildings all over the city  were designated shelters of last resort for   anyone still in new orleans when the hurricane  hit the largest of these was the louisiana   superdome which had hosted six super bowls  but was now hosting over 20 000 evacuees   hurricane katrina made landfall the next day  august 29th initially it seemed like fortunate   smiled on new orleans because at the last minute  the storm had weakened in intensity so that   when it came ashore it did so as a category 3  hurricane it had also shifted on its tracks at   the center of the storm where the strongest most  destructive winds are located made landfall to   the east of the city instead of hitting it dead  on new orleans hadn't escaped unscathed with   windows in high-rise buildings being blown out  an interstate causeway being jumbled up and   broken by wind and waves and the superdome's  roof being partially torn off among other   damages but it was all manageable something  that new orleans could easily recover from   and then disaster struck hurricanes bring more  than destructive winds and heavy rain they also   bring a third equally deadly force known as storm  surge the strong winds of the storm push ocean   waves ashore with the force of a tsunami forcing  sea water ashore far beyond normal tidal limits   all of this excess water flows into the path of  least resistance this would be any rivers canals   or lakes in the area and it raises the water  level dramatically this is a phenomenon that is   well known to meteorologists and civil engineers  and it is exactly what the flood control levees   in new orleans were designed to prevent which is  why it was so shocking when as the day wore on the   levees began to fail in dramatic fashion there  were over 50 reported breaches in the levees   around new orleans during the storm including half  a dozen major failures and many of these failures   were not caused by too much water simply flowing  over the top of them either the u.s army corps of   engineers had badly miscalculated the strength  of the soil that had built the flood walls on   and they began to fail with the water level still  feet below the point of overtopping the walls poor   design even poorer maintenance and the hurricane  all came together to wreck the entire flood   control system and billions of gallons of water  poured into the city streets entire neighborhoods   vanished from sight covered by a sheen of ugly  brown water that reached 10 to 15 feet deep in   some places 80 of the city was flooded and so was  the entirety of neighboring saint bernard parish   some 200 000 homes and businesses were swamped  residents who had not evacuated now faced a   desperate fight for survival retreating first to  their attics and then to their roofs in an effort   to escape the rising water for many help would  not come for days as the authorities grappled   with the sheer magnitude of the disaster hampered  by the failure of electrical power and a lack of   manpower it is believed that around a third of  the new orleans police department deserted the   city before the storm many of them taking off in  their department issued vehicles this left the   department critically understaffed not a lot of  information was reaching the outside world as to   what was happening in the city as every broadcast  network had been knocked out the media filled in   the blanks with a healthy dose of exaggerations  and in some cases complete fabrications the media   painted a picture of a complete breakdown of law  and order in new orleans with residents running   wild in an orgy of looting rape burning and murder  there were reports of hundreds of dead bodies at   the superdome when in fact there were only six  while there were isolated cases of looting and   other criminal activity it was nothing like the  initial reports that the media were describing hurricane katrina finally beated out on august  31st but not before it had wrecked a path of   destruction that extended for hundreds of miles  along the gulf coast the drowning of new orleans   was the focal point of press coverage but most of  the rest of louisiana as well as mississippi and   alabama were hard hit as well in financial terms  the total loss was eventually set at a staggering   125 billion one of the costliest natural disasters  in american history but what set this disaster   apart from most others in the united states was  how deadly it was around 1 800 lives were lost   around 1 500 of those were in new orleans  where it took weeks to recover the bodies   of all the victims claimed by the flood waters  americans were shocked and horrified they were   used to disasters of the scale happening in  third world countries with poor infrastructure   not in the most powerful country on the  planet shock turned to anger as reports   began to surface how badly the civil authorities  had bungled their response to the disaster the   federal emergency management agency fema is  the government aide specifically designed to   cope with disasters such as this but two years  previously fema had been placed under the umbrella   of the department of homeland security and there  already been criticism that the agency was now   too focused on counter-terrorism preparedness to  the detriment of natural disaster preparedness the   fema's administrators seemed totally overwhelmed  by the scale of the crisis in new orleans and they   were slow to react when they did react it was in  an overly bureaucratic manner that critics charged   was more about ensuring they had complete control  over every aspect of the response than the welfare   of the victims stranded in new orleans things got  so bad that eight days after the hurricane struck   the city fema director michael brown was replaced  as the federal government's on-scene commander and   three days after that he resigned his position  in disgrace but he was hardly the only one to   face questions about the response to katrina  there was plenty of blame to go around mayor   nagin was criticized for delaying the evacuation  of new orleans until 19 hours before the hurricane   made landfall trapping many people without  a means of escape in the doomed city and for   directing people to emergency shelters that were  inadequately stocked with food water medicine   blankets and other supplies the new orleans  police department investigated over 200 officers   for deserting their posts during the storm many of  which were either fired or resigned the department   was heavily criticized for overreacting to reports  of looting in the aftermath of the flooding for   spending more time policing petty crime than  helping to rescue trapped victims a month   after the storm chief of police eddie compass was  pressured into resigning his post the governor of   louisiana kathleen blanco was excited for being  slow to mobilize the resources under her command   this included the national guard and both she  and fema criticized for seemingly spending   too much time bickering with each other about  jurisdiction than helping the needy the failures   at all levels were so numerous and so blatant  that a congressional panel was put together to   investigate it their report said in short that  despite all the efforts made by the government   since 9 11 the nation was still unprepared for a  large-scale disaster like hurricane katrina had   been the failures of government agencies at all  levels had hampered efforts by first responders   to rescue people and that if wholesale changes  weren't made it could very easily happen again it took weeks for all of the water to either drain  or be pumped out of the flooded sections of the   city by then a considerable amount of water damage  was done and countless structures were condemned   as uninhabitable the storm had wreaked havoc on  the city's infrastructure knocking out roads water   and sewer lines and electrical grids over 800  thousand people were displaced and they needed   to be housed fed and clothed there were serious  concerns that damage was so extensive that the   city itself might have to be abandoned or at least  great sections of it would be things only got   worse in september when hurricane rita struck and  the hastily repaired levees broke again flooding   sections of the city that already been damaged by  katrina help came from all over the country from   both government agencies and private non-profits  such as the american red cross and habitat for   humanity they provided food water and clothing  for survivors and volunteers cleaned up debris and   helped in the long grueling process of gutting  flood-damaged homes so they could be remodeled   slowly but surely reconstruction efforts  proceeded with varying degrees of success   that damaged the superdome was repaired and  the stadium hosted its seventh super bowl in   2013 while six flags new orleans a large amusement  park that had been totally flooded was eventually   written off as being too costly to repair and  was abandoned much debate was given over the   fate of the many low-income housing units that had  been damaged or destroyed by the storm these were   often the last to be worked on assuming they  were worked on at all there were allegations   that the civil authorities didn't care about  the displaced poor residents of new orleans   especially if there were people of color  by the end of 2006 most major businesses   had reopened the sports teams had returned  and the city had managed to put on a smaller   but still raucous mardi gras celebration but that  didn't mean that the city had recovered when the   2010 census was taken it revealed that new orleans  had experienced a 30 drop in population from 10   years before one of the most dramatic declines  in the history of the u.s even today the city   has a hundred thousand fewer people than it did in  the year 2000 a direct result of mass emigration   stemming from the hurricane many people who were  displaced and lost everything in the storm decided   not to return or were unable to because of  financial constraints a lack of available   housing led to an increase in rent costs and  many poor residents were unable to afford that   all over new orleans there are deserted buildings  or vacant lots that were never redeveloped after   the flood the city has also faced political crises  in the years since katrina in 2014 ray nagin the   former mayor who had presided over the city during  the storm was convicted of accepting bribes while   in office and sentenced to prison he was the  17th new orleans area politician to be convicted   of corruption charges since the storm the nopd  was also forced to let so many of his officers   go for misconduct that it suffered a critical  manpower shortage that still continues to this day when you visit new orleans today you wouldn't  know that the city had almost drowned a decade   and a half ago by looking at it the city relies  more heavily than ever on tourism when mardi gras   celebrations were threatened by the coveted 19  pandemic this year the city government worried   about possible bankruptcy but for anyone who lived  in new orleans in 2005 it is unlikely that they   will ever forget hurricane katrina memorials and  reminders litter the city the most prominent of   which is the new orleans katrina memorial on the  ground of the historic cypress grove cemetery this   solemn set of mausoleums is where the unidentified  and unclaimed victims of the disaster are interred   the city still has a lot to offer a visitor the  french quarter is just as vibrant as it's always   been and the food and the music are just as unique  to the senses mardi gras is still considered a   must-see event and the city's historic sites are  largely still there to be enjoyed what has changed   are the people new orleans is less likely to  take things for granted now a little less blase   about things like safety with a newfound respect  for the awesome power of mother nature many people   are still haunted by the disaster still mourning  friends lost and some people believe the heart   and soul of the old city was ripped out by katrina  and that new orleans will never be the same again   as the years go by and hurricane katrina fades  into history this attitude may change time heals   all wounds as the saying goes one memory that  shouldn't fade is the realization that even   the most modern city is still vulnerable to the  depredations of the natural world and that the   necessary precautions must be taken to mitigate  this risk safety infrastructure must be properly   built and maintained a coherent disaster plan must  be created and maintained in cooperation between   agencies at all levels must be achieved otherwise  it is only a matter of time before another   disaster on this scale happens to an american  city if you don't believe us just ask new orleans   so i hope you found that video interesting  if you did please do hit that thumbs up   button below don't forget to subscribe  and as always thank you for watching you

Channel: Geographics

Views: 143,084

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Id: kMcL2atljwY

Length: 22min 15sec (1335 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 06 2021