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More Stories Emerge of Rapes in Post-Katrina Chaos : NPR Thousands more were unable to evacuate, including the nearly 25,000 who sheltered in the Superdome. A storm surge more than 26 feet (8 metres) high slammed into the coastal cities of Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi, devastating homes and resorts along the beachfront. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Katrina is the costliest U.S. hurricane on record, inflicting some $125 billion in total damages. Thornton and Mouton went to work, spending a hour writing up a two-page, handwritten list of everything they needed. Sign up for the For The Win newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning. Hurricane Katrina, the tropical cyclone that struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005, was the third-strongest hurricane to hit the United States in its history at the time. It ran into the reserve tank. Theres five feet of water on Poydras Street.. https://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/08/refuge-of-last-resort-five-days-inside-the-superdome-for-hurricane-katrina, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The 2005 hurricane and subsequent levee failures led to death and destructionand dealt a lasting blow to leadership and the Gulf region. FOX Facts: Hurricane Katrina Damage | Fox News They had to find out if they could move these people. Although there was a "maintenance regime" theoretically in place for the levees, the Senate committee found that it was "in no way commensurate with the risk posed to these persons and their property." Widespread criticism of the federal response to Katrina led to the resignation of Michael D. Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and did lasting damage to the reputation of President Bush, who was nearing the end of a month-long vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas when Katrina struck. And then thenext morning, more bad news: The buses had been rerouted and delayed, sent to a highway overpass where people were stranded. They had no good options. The Blackhawks had landed on the top parking level of the Superdome, and then the sandbags were driven down to the back door by the generator room. Instead, its lethality was a direct result of people and the decisions that they made, in regards to the engineering of the levees as well as the poor evacuation plans. Deaths in the Superdome. [7] According to many, the smell inside the stadium was revolting due to the breakdown of the plumbing system, which included all toilets and urinals in the building, forcing people to urinate and defecate in other areas such as garbage cans and sinks. It quickly intensified when it reached the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Although the rebuilt levees are supposed to protect the city against a flood with a severity that comes every 100 years, the flood brought by Hurricane Katrina was one that, in theory, comes once every 400 years. [32] New Orleans Police Department chief Eddie Compass appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and reported seeing "little babies getting raped" and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin also said he saw hooligans raping and killing people. [41], After the events surrounding Katrina, the Superdome was not used during the 2005 NFL season. On the morning of August 29, the storm made landfall as a category 4 hurricane at Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, approximately 45 miles (70 km) southeast of New Orleans. WATCH:I Was There: Hurricane Katrina: Rescue Swimmer. Thornton and Mouton just needed to find a way to keep things under control for 20 hours before it could be enacted. Weve been here since 6 a.m., and this is getting worse and worse, State Police Officer K.W. According to PBS, two weeks after the storm, 25% of the children remained unaccounted for. This death was one of only six deaths at the Superdome: one person overdosed and four others died of natural causes. [30][31], As of August 31, there had been three deaths in the Superdome: two elderly medical patients who were suffering from existing illness, and a man who committed suicide by jumping from the upper level seats. People had broken up into factions by race, separating into small groups throughout the building that the National Guard struggled to control. The guardsmans gun went off during the confrontation. And cars were overturned on Poydras Street.. The fact that Black homeowners were more likely to face flooding than white homeowners wasn't an accident or bad luck. However, there was no water purification equipment on site, nor any chemical toilets, antibiotics, or anti-diarrheals stored for a crisis. There were two reports of rape, one involving a child. They knew they needed to do a security check before allowing the people inside they couldnt risk anyone bringing guns and knives inside the Dome. A hurricane warning is issued for north central Gulf . It was a good option, but one never used. 25% were caused by injury and trauma and 11% were caused by heart conditions. 70% of New Orleans occupied housing, 134,000 units, were damaged in the storm. For now, theyd monitor. 11:09. Thats been the history. Hurricane Katrina caused up to $161 billion worth of damage, largely due to the fact that the breached levees led to flooding in 80% of New Orleans. ", Ultimately, it's unknown exactly what the death toll of Hurricane Katrina was. I wake up in the morning, and the first thing I say is: Where are my babies? Water floods a cemetery outside St. Patrick's Church in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, on September 11, 2005. Mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin had stated that as a "refuge of last resort," only limited food, water, and supplies would be provided. On June 4, 2006, Pamela Mahogany was interviewed for her personal experience involving the events following Hurricane Katrina. It was used as an emergency shelter although it was neither designed nor tested for the task. In Louisiana, where more than 1,500 people are believed to have died due to Katrinas impact, drowning (40 percent), injury and trauma (25 percent), and heart conditions (11 percent) were the major causes of death, according to a report published in 2008 by the American Medical Association. Trapped in the Superdome: Refuge becomes a hellhole Hurricane Katrina survivors arrive at the Houston Astrodome Red Cross Shelter after being evacuated from New Orleans. [17][18] 25,000 evacuees were taken to the Astrodome in Houston, while another 25,000 were taken to San Antonio and Dallas. She knew the destruction was bad, that water was everywhere. The bad news is its going to take us several days to pump the water out of the city even if they can stop the water flow from coming in, Thornton recalls Nagin saying. And despite the fact that many were long voicing their concerns about the effects of a hurricane in New Orleans, they were ignored until it was too late. At its height as a category 5 hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, Katrinas wind speeds exceeded 170 miles per hour. All they could do was try to protect the generator. A Warner Bros. On the flight out west, Thornton looked down and saw his home in Lakewood South, as well as the seven feet of water surrounding it. About 16,000 people. If we let everybody go into the parking garage then were going to lose control of the situation and it could be worse. As the already strained levee system continued to give way, the remaining residents of New Orleans were faced with a city that by August 30 was 80 percent underwater. The hurricane and its aftermath claimed more than 1,800 lives, and it ranked as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. They either remained in their homes or sought shelter at locations such as the New Orleans Convention Center or the Louisiana Superdome. Plus theyll be out in the heat.. On the morning of August 29, 2005, Katrina made landfall around 60 miles southeast of New Orleans. NBC News reports that although there were stories of freezers full of bodies, "no such pile of bodies was [ever] found.". But inside the Superdome, things were deteriorating rapidly. https://www.britannica.com/event/Hurricane-Katrina, LiveScience - Hurricane Katrina: Facts, Damage and Aftermath, Hurricane Katrina - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). [43], On October 21, 2005, owner Tom Benson issued a statement saying that he had not made any decision about the future of the Saints. Because of this shortsightedness, Hurricane Katrina was "the nation's first $200 billion disaster.". By the following afternoon Katrina had become one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, with winds in excess of 170 miles (275 km) per hour. Outside, there was anarchy. As general manager of the facility since 1997, he had been through this several times before. At their peak, hurricane relief shelters housed 273,000 people. Meanwhile, flooding continued to worsen in New Orleans. The men found a weak spot in the wall, a metal panel around head height, and punched a hole through it. At one point, a desperate man, who had all the belongings he had brought to the Superdome stolen, tried to escape and had to be calmed by National Guardsmen. Hurricane Katrina Superdome New Orleans National Guard Results: Hurricane Katrina was responsible for the death of up to 1,170 persons in Louisiana; the risk of death increased with age. In this satellite image, a close-up of the center of Hurricane Katrina's rotation is seen at 9:45 a.m. EST on August 29, 2005 over southeastern Louisiana. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! There were no designated medical staff at work in the evacuation center, no established sick bay within the Superdome, and very few cots available that hadn't been brought in by evacuees. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Cooper housing project play on mattresses on June 10, 2007. People wade through high water in front of the Superdome in New Orleans on August 30, 2005. It was going to be the big one. By the time the storm strengthened to a category 3 hurricane, winds exceeded 115 miles per hour. Governor Blanco's comment regarding M-16s was likely in response to the reports of snipers shooting at police and rescue workers. By then it was too late for Thornton to call in the staff hed need to keep it running. Thorntons staff opened up the concourses, allowing people to walk around the arena, stretch their legs, find neighbors and friends who were there as well. During the first ten years after the storm, FEMA provided more than $15 billion to the Gulf states for public works projects, including the repair and rebuilding of roads, schools and buildings. Katrina makes landfall near Grand Isle, Louisiana. According to National Geographic, "some argue that indirect hurricane deaths, like being unable to access medical care, should be counted in official numbers.". A man pushes his bicycle through flood waters near the Superdome in New Orleans on Aug. 31, 2005. In the hours before the storm hit and thenafter it left when the levees failedand everything changed the people who remained in New Orleans streamed toward a place where usually they would go to watch football, the massive structure at the citys heart, the Superdome. It was worse than they imagined.. Rumours spread in the press of reports of rapes, violent assaults, murders, drug abuse, and gang activity inside the Superdome, most of which were entirely unsubstantiated and without witnesses. A man in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward rides a canoe in high water on August 31, 2005. By 4:30 p.m., the winds were dying down and Thornton and Mouton went outside and surveyed the building. Children slept in pools of urine. My instincts as a building manager are to evacuate, he said. Up to 47% "were caused by acute and chronic diseases." [39] However, that number also counted four bodies that were near the dome. It also had burned through half of the fuel in the 1,000-gallon tank. katrina Why Did Hurricane Katrina Kt Women So Hard? [25][26][27], On September 7, speculation arose that the Superdome was now in such a poor condition that it would have to be demolished. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. He starts off the essay with his own personal account of the damage that Hurricane Katrina left. The hurricane and its aftermath claimed more than 1,800 lives, and it ranked as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. We are like animals, Taffany Smith, 25, told the Los Angeles Times, while she gripped her 3-week-old son in her arms. Some 25,000 crowded into the convention center, while more than 25,000 filled the Superdome. The storm spent less than eight hours over land. He started bawling. A refill was supposed to be on the way that day, but opening the door for the fuel truck would flood the room. [33] False reports of gunshots also disrupted medical evacuations at the dome. In death, she became a symbol of government failure an anonymous woman slumped in a wheelchair, abandoned outside one of the city's . In addition, according to the journalSocial Science & Medicine, there were also long-term mental health consequences of Hurricane Katrina. [4] However, when looking into the origins of the claims about 200mph (320km/h) wind security in the Superdome, CNN reported that no engineering study had ever been completed on the amount of wind the structure could withstand. At 10 a.m., the Thorntons headed together to the Superdome. . Thanks for contacting us. But Thornton wasnt thinking about that right then. estimated population had increased to 376,971. Unfortunately, due to the sensationalist stories regarding the Superdome, the rumors were used to justify "turn[ing] New Orleans into a prison city," according to The Guardian. [citation needed] The building's engineering study was underway as Hurricane Katrina approached and was put on hold. [citation needed] Residents who evacuated to the Superdome were warned to bring their own supplies with them. The Superdome was gone. Initially, the Superdome was described as a "lawless, depraved, and chaotic" place, with reports of numerous murders. At St. Rita's Nursing Home, residents were reportedly abandoned by the staff, and 35 people drowned as a result. [7] Medical machines also failed, which prompted a decision to move patients to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Well, Thornton replied, our generator has 10 inches to spare. The moonlight was shining on the water., She paused. Do you think this is going to work? he asked. It took 17 men several hours to do the job. [12], By August 30, with no air conditioning, temperatures inside the dome had reached the 90s, and the punctured dome at once allowed humidity in and trapped it there. We're not a hotel. But finding the children was only part of the battle. I would rather have been in jail, Janice Jones said while being taken out of the dome. Supplies were dangerously low, with one mother saying officials told her to reuse diapers by scraping them out when they got dirty. "[38] On that same day, 10 deaths were reported at the Superdome by CBS News. Though leaving in the light of day would be easier, it could also cause hysteria from those left behind in the Dome. People try to get to higher ground as water rises on August 30, 2005, in New Orleans. People search for their belongings among debris washed up on the beach in Biloxi on August 30, 2005. As a result, thousands of people became stranded at the Superdome, while thousands more ended up on the roofs of their homes as floodwaters reached heights of 20 feet. Please select which sections you would like to print: Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Tulane University postponed its scheduled football game against the University of Southern Mississippi until November 26. Residents of Saucier, Mississippi, line up to get gas on August 31, 2005. Though leaving in the light of day would be easier, it could also cause hysteria from those left behind in the Dome. They drove four hours from Bossier City where Doug, an executive with SMG, managed a facility back to New Orleans, a lone car on the inbound side of the highway as thousands upon thousands of cars sat in traffic on the outbound lanes. Insurance companies have paid an estimated $41.1 billion on 1.7 million different claims for damage to vehicles, homes, and businesses in six states. They worked furiously. National Geographic writes that the storm hit the coast of Louisiana on August 29 and ended up affecting up to 90,000 square miles of land and over 15 million people. He made two requests: Hed need a large contingent of National Guardsmen, and a few hours Sunday morning to prepare. And food was running short. We've received your submission. Nothing.. But that was the only light they could see. The low-income development has been replaced by two-story, townhouse-style buildings. Meanwhile, foster families struggled with making sure that their children had their medication. [48] Overall, the team used six different stadiums for their six home games, including Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Cajun Field in Lafayette, Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, Malone Stadium in Monroe, and LaddPeebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. They took off running to the concourse, and saw a nightmare come true the roof in one section above the field had been torn off by the wind. Daylight could be seen from inside the dome, and rain was pouring in. On May 12, 2015, rubble remains at what used to be the B.W. His home was destroyed. The streets were still flooded, perhaps even worse than before. There was a plan. A school bus drops off a student in front of the Claiborne Bridge on May 12, 2015. What were Hurricane Katrinas wind speeds? It continued on a course to the northeast, crossing the Mississippi Sound and making a second landfall later that morning near the mouth of the Pearl River. As Talk Poverty notes, it was directly due to "racially discriminatory housing practices," which meant that"the high-ground was taken by the time banks started loaning money to African Americans who wanted to buy a home.". Feces covered the walls of bathrooms. It wasnt until midnight that things started to settle down. In an analysis of 971 fatalities in Louisiana and 15 additional deaths of storm evacuees, 40% of deaths were caused by drowning. [32] While numerous people told the Times-Picayune that they had witnessed the rape of two girls in the ladies' restroom and the killing of one of them, police and military officials said they knew nothing about the incidents. Returning to Washington from Texas, Air Force One descended to about 5,000 feet to allow Bush to view some of the worst damage from Hurricane Katrina. Gunfire has ricocheted down the corridors. Governor Blanco herself stated, "They have M-16s, and they are locked and loaded. [52] The Mountaineers won, 3835. A 2008 report from the Louisiana Health Department put the total at . Hurricane Katrina was an extremely destructive 2005 storm that caused more than 1,800 deaths along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina was a 2005 storm that affected the southeast coast of the United States. If water engulfed the generator, the building would be cast into complete darkness. Apart from the foster children, roughly 5,000 additional children were listed as missing in the Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina. Roughly 14,000 people were inside now. Finally, Mouton spoke. Floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina stranded thousands of New Orleans residents. The smell of the air became humid, tropical. [42] Their first "home" game was played on September 19, 2005 against the New York Giants at Giants Stadium, which resulted in a 2710 loss. Most of these rumors were caused because of the breakdown of cellular service, which prevented the distribution of reliable and accurate information. The National Guards headquarters had flooded, so the entire operation had moved to the Superdome. It damaged more than a million housing units in the region. Caleb Wells. At least 1,833 died in the hurricane and subsequent floods. Over the next two days the weather system gathered strength, earning the designation Tropical Storm Katrina, and it made landfall between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a category 1 hurricanea storm that, on the Saffir-Simpson scale, exhibits winds in the range of 7495 miles (119154 km) per hour. Still, about 100,000 people were trapped in the city when the storm hit, and many took last-ditch refuge in the New Orleans Superdome and the Ernest J. Morial Convention Center as the storm approached. The water pumps had failed, and without water pumps to the elevated building, they couldnt maintain water pressure. We took him to the terrace and said, Look. , As he saw the floodwaters rising around the stadium, the man broke down. Sixteen years after Katrina, New Orleans has strengthened its flood There is feces on the walls, said Bryan Hebert, 43. Although New Orleans levees and flood walls had been designed to withstand a category 3 hurricane, half of the network gave way to the waters. The outer ends of the hurricane also produced tornados, although they only damaged power lines and trees. This is ready to break. The facility housed 15,000 refugees who fled the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Ive been in there seven days, and I havent had a bath. They would later learnwhat had happened: Levees at various locations in and around the city had failed, and the pumping stations, overwhelmed with water and damaged by the storm, werent working. "Flooded offices meant records were underwater," and although there were some computerized records, according to then-Assistant Secretary of Children Welfare for Louisiana's Department of Social Services Marketa Walters, "New Orleans was notorious for not doing good data entry." They couldnt find any vehicles to transport the patients safely. FEMA photo/Andrea Booher. By 2021, the estimated population had increased to 376,971, according to the Census. However, not a single one of those reports was "verified or substantiated. He needed to start getting people out. A violent, free-for-all riot seemed sure to break out with the next bit of bad news. Ive been through a lot of hurricanes. The flooding destroyed New Orleans, the Nation's thirty-fifth largest city. WATCH: Cities of the Underworld: Hurricane Katrina on HISTORY Vault. Food rotted inside of hundreds of refrigerators and freezers spread throughout the building; the smell was inescapable. After it made landfall in Louisiana on August 29, Hurricane Katrina produced widespread flooding in southeastern Louisiana because the levee system that held back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne was completely overwhelmed by 10 inches of rain and Katrinas storm surge. Nagin had no solution. Thornton, whod been cooped up in the Superdome for going on five days, looked down on her city, at the soft waves lapping against the houses in the moonlight. Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. Heres a look at some statistics from Hurricane Katrina. Thornton felt the seconds ticking, each one more dangerous than the last. The office asked him if he could open up the Superdome as a refuge of last resort for the city of New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina, which damaged more than 100 school buildings, the state seized control of almost all urban schools and turned them over to independent charter groups. The Bayou Classic was moved from the Superdome to Reliant Stadium in Houston. He didnt realize how bad things are other there, Wells said. They treated us like animals. It was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. He said he just wanted to get out, to go somewhere. [1], Hurricane Katrina was the third time the dome had been used as a public shelter. And although they were deemed unsuitable for habitation, according to Grist, little has been done to ensure that people no longer live in toxic trailers. By late afternoon, the breaching of the London Avenue Canal levees had left 80 percent of New Orleans underwater. Mayor, youve got to get these people out of here, he said. We took him inside.. [36] A group of about 100 tourists were "smuggled" out from the Superdome to the New Orleans Arena next door, where 800 medical needs patients were being held. The agency also provided $6.7 billion in recovery aid to more than one million people and households. The air smelled toxic. The Data Center, a New Orleans-based research organization, estimated that the storm and subsequent flooding displaced more than 1 million people, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Some levees buttressing the Industrial Canal, the 17th Street Canal, and other areas were overtopped by the storm surge, and others were breached after these structures failed outright from the buildup of water pressure behind them. Most deaths were caused by acute and chronic diseases (47%), and drowning (33%). The federal response to Hurricane Katrina was just as bad as state and local responses. Finally. However, according to "Deaths Directly Caused by Hurricane Katrina" by Poppy Markwell and Raoult Ratard, only about one third of those deaths were due to drowning. The water was still rising. After a traffic jam kept buses from arriving at the Superdome for nearly four hours, a near-riot broke out in the scramble to get on the buses that finally did show up. Miller told a reporter. They knew what that meant: The Superdome was now running on its backup generator, which could power the lights but not much more. Preparations by location South Florida. In addition, a Bleacher Report article quotes Thornton saying "We're not a hospital. In response, guardsmanput up barbed wire at various areas around the building, protecting themselves from the general population. TV-PG. The Social Science Research Council writes that this disparity occurred because elderly people were neither evacuated nor protected effectively. Most of the tragedies associated with Hurricane Katrina could have been avoided, but due to a variety of reasons, the hurricane quickly became one of the worst disasters to ever occur in the United States. And according to Vox, when the Louisiana National Guard asked FEMA for 700 buses to help with the evacuation, only 100 were sent in response. Thornton and Mouton unleashed days worth of frustration. Socialist Alternative writes that police were given the task of "defending the private property of businesses like the GAP and casinos" rather than concentrating on rescuing people. Later that day, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco ordered New Orleans to be completely evacuated. Hurricane Katrina was a devastating Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that resulted in 1,392 fatalities and caused damage estimated between $97.4 billion to $145.5 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding areas. [29] However, the eventual cost to renovate and repair the dome was roughly $185 million and it was reopened for the Saints' first home game in the city in September 2006. Over the next several days the Domewould sink into chaos. Hurricane Katrina | Deaths, Damage, & Facts | Britannica Fights broke out. According to NBC News, the average age of victims was 69, and "just under half of all victims were 75 or older." According to ABC News, it was claimed that "the levee breaches could not have been foreseen" and that the government had little warning before the hurricane. First delivery to the Superdome on August 31, 2005. According to an article in Time, "Over the years city officials have stressed that they didn't want to make it too comfortable at the Superdome since it was always safer to leave the city altogether. The chief of police had been given bad information. New Orleans went from having a public school system to having a school system composed almost entirely of charter schools, most of them run by charter management organizations. Within an hour, nearly every building in lower Plaquemines Parish would be destroyed. Because of the ensuing. Temperatures had reached the upper 80s, and the punctured dome at once allowed humidity in and trapped it there. When Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans poet Shelton Alexander to evacuate his home, he took his truck and video camera to the Superdome. The mass exodus from the Gulf Coast and New Orleans during and after Katrina represented one of the largest and most sudden relocations of people in U.S. history. If we had evacuated who knows what wouldve happened Thornton said. She came up with the list, talked to the dozens of people there, her husbands employees, people she knew a little bit before the storm and now knew like family. - The total damage from Katrina is estimated to be $125 billion (or $190 billion in 2022 dollars), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It looks like we cant stop the levee breaches and were being told there could be as much as six to eight feet more of water, Thornton recalls Compass saying. Meanwhile, NOLA.com reports that New Orleans police officers were given authorization to shoot looters. 2008 Dec;2(4):215-23. doi: 10.1097/DMP.0b013e31818aaf55. Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts | CNN The line to get in was already a quarter-mile long. This story has been shared 120,685 times. The men sat in stunned silence. Even though the dome never lost power, air conditioning, and running water during any of those storms, Superdome manager Doug Thornton recommended after Hurricane Georges for the dome to not be used as a shelter for anybody but special-needs evacuees.