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Hurricane Katrina

1) Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas in late August 2005 and rapidly intensified to a Category 5 storm as it approached the Gulf Coast of the United States. 2) Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana and caused catastrophic damage along the central Gulf Coast from central Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. 3) The storm surge and levee failures in New Orleans caused especially devastating flooding that submerged 80% of the city underwater and displaced over 1 million people in the region. Katrina was one of the costliest and deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history.

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Kerry Sweet-Seip
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86 views21 pages

Hurricane Katrina

1) Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas in late August 2005 and rapidly intensified to a Category 5 storm as it approached the Gulf Coast of the United States. 2) Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana and caused catastrophic damage along the central Gulf Coast from central Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. 3) The storm surge and levee failures in New Orleans caused especially devastating flooding that submerged 80% of the city underwater and displaced over 1 million people in the region. Katrina was one of the costliest and deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history.

Uploaded by

Kerry Sweet-Seip
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Understanding

KATRINA
8/29/05

http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/hurseas2005/Katrina1215z-050829-4kg12.jpg
• On promontories, not bays
• 2 category 5s, 7 cat. 4s

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gifs/hur5005.jpg
History Percent per year probability (historical)
per 50-mile (80 km) coastline
(1900-1996)
http://www.nhc.noaa.
gov/pastall.shtml

• South Florida
= most
frequent
• South Texas
and Miss.
Delta =
second
• Katrina
• Rita
Hurricane history
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gifs/atlhist_lowres.gif

Named storms

Hurricanes
Cat. 3+
Miss. delta
• Sea level?
– Lake
Pontchartrain
– Lake Borgne
– SW Pass

SW PASS

http://www.mpcnetwork.com/marinersinfo/charts/gm/2neworleans.gif
Mississippi delta in flood
• Note:
– Sediment to Gulf
1,000,000 ton/day
– Flooded outer
delta Bayou
Lafourche
– Dry diked areas
– Vegetation/land
use on natural
levees
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rcb7/MissDelta.jpg
Topography of New Orleans
• Much of north N.O. lies well below sea level
• Sea water gains access through canals
• An uneasy truce is maintained by ~350 miles
of levees.

From Brian Hayes (2005), American Scientist, v. 93, p. 496-499 [original map from Louisiana State University]
Natural levees
• Result from multiple
floods
• Extend 2+ km from
river channel
• Are poorly engineered!
Which way to the ocean?
• Miss. R. is twice as long (half as steep) as
shortcuts via the Atchafalaya R. or Lake P.

Mississippi

Atchafalaya

http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~gumley/modis_gallery/images/MississippiDelta_20040127_1940_1000m.jpg
Katrina

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/GOES/katrina.html
Sea-surface temperatures
• Note
extremely
warm water
• Shallow
coastal
waters
commonly
lack cold
layers
Image courtesy NASA-JPL
Katrina comes
ashore
• [Surviving]
tide gauges
Images courtesy NASA
Images courtesy NASA
Images courtesy NASA
Images courtesy NASA
Damage (courtesy of USGS)

•Biloxi
http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/katrina/

•Pass
Christian •Biloxi
Most intense
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.shtml

Category Minimum Minimum


Rank Hurricane Year at Pres. Pres.
landfall (mb) (in)
1 (FL Keys) 1935 5 892 26.35
2 Camille (MS, SE LA, VA) 1969 5 909 26.84
3 Andrew (SE FL, SE LA) 1992 5 922 27.23
4 (Indianola TX ) 1886 4 925 27.31
5 (FL Keys, S TX) 1919 4 927 27.37
6 (Lake Okeechobee FL) 1928 4 929 27.43
7 Donna (FL, Eastern U.S.) 1960 4 930 27.46
8 (New Orleans LA) 1915 4 931 27.49
8 Carla (N & Cent. TX) 1961 4 931 27.49
10 LA (Last Island) 1856 4 934 27.58
Deadliest (through 1996)
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.shtml

RANKING HURRICANE YEAR CATEGORY DEATHS


1. TX (Galveston) 1900 4 8000+
2. FL (Lake Okeechobee) 1928 4 1836
3. FL (Keys)/S. TX 1919 4 600
4. NEW ENGLAND 1938 3 600
5. FL (Keys) 1935 5 408
6. AUDREY (SW LA/N TX) 1957 4 390
7. NE U.S. 1944 3 390
8. LA (Grand Isle) 1909 4 350
9. LA (New Orleans) 1915 4 275
10. TX (Galveston) 1915 4 275
11. CAMILLE (MS/LA) 1969 5 256
What do we do about it?

• Abandon New Orleans?


• Rebuild New Orleans only along the
natural levees?
• Rebuild, but zone/plan undersea areas for
only unoccupied ground floors?
• Rebuild and raise the levees?
• Rebuild
In summary…

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