EFFECT OF KATRINA

Damage

• The city was subjected to brutal winds and rain for hours.  
• Roads were damaged and there was only one way out. 
• As the winds continued and the rain fell, windows in high rise buildings were blown out. 
• Clean water was unavailable, and power outages were expected to last for weeks. 
• On August 29, at 7:40 a.m. CDT, it was reported that most of the windows on the north side of the Hyatt Regency New Orleans had been blown out, and many other high rise buildings had extensive window damage. The Hyatt was the most severely damaged hotel in the city, with beds reported to be flying out of the windows. Insulation tubes were exposed as the hotel's glass exterior was completely sheared off.  

hyatt had been destroyed badly due to katrina

• The Superdome, which was sheltering many people who had not evacuated, sustained significant damage.  Two sections of the Superdome's roof were compromised and the dome's waterproof membrane had essentially been peeled off. 

  people live in superdome for temporary

• Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was closed before the storm but did not flood. On August 30, it was reopened to humanitarian and rescue operations. Limited commercial passenger service resumed at the airport on September 13 and regular carrier operations resumed in early October.

situation in airport

Loss of Life

• The extensive flooding stranded many residents, who remained long after Hurricane Katrina had passed. Stranded survivors dotted the tops of houses citywide. Some were trapped inside attics, unable to escape. 
• By 11:00 p.m. on August 29, Mayor Nagin described the loss of life as "significant" with reports of bodies floating on the water throughout the city, though primarily in the eastern portions. 
• More than 3,200 people are officially still unaccounted for nearly five months after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, and the state medical examiner wants the search to resume for those missing from the most devastated neighborhoods. 
• A total of nearly 11,500 people were reported missing to the Find Family National Call Center, a center run by federal and state workers. The reports included people from throughout the Gulf Coast area, but most were from Louisiana.

Flooding

• The loss of life and property damage was worsened by breaks in the levees that separate New Orleans from surrounding lakes.
• At least 80% of New Orleans was under flood water on August 31st, largely as a result of levee failures from Lake Pontchartrain. 
• The combination of strong winds, heavy rainfall and storm surge led to breaks in the earthen levee after the storm passed, leaving some parts of New Orleans under 20 feet of water.

Oil Industry

• A major economic impact for the nation was the disruption to the oil industry from Katrina.Preliminary estimates from the Mineral Management Service suggest that oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was reduced by 1.4 million barrels per day (or 95 % of the daily Gulf of Mexico production) as a result of the hurricane..

Cost

• Estimates for damages for Hurricane Katrina are still extremely preliminary and properly assessing losses will take many months.
• However, the total losses as a result of Katrina is estimated to exceed $100 billion with over $34 billion in insured losses. 
• Its is recorded as the most expensive natural disaster.