[14] With no power or clean water supply, sanitary conditions within the Superdome had rapidly deteriorated. Only after Katrina passed were people going to be bussed to shelters. It took two days for 1,000 more FEMA officials to arrive, but once they did, FEMA "slowed the evacuation with unworkable paperwork and certification requirements." 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. [7] Medical machines also failed, which prompted a decision to move patients to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. However, there was no water purification equipment on site, nor any chemical toilets, antibiotics, or anti-diarrheals stored for a crisis. Although most of these shootings led to criminal prosecutions, "several of the officers involved have avoided prison or [were] still awaiting a final resolution of their cases" up to a decade after the storm. The air conditioning ducts would have mold in them by now. Nagin told the men to get him a list of supplies they needed, and he would get it from FEMA. A man had been caught sexually assaulting a young girl. In addition, many of the underlying systemic inequalities and problems that resulted in the severity of the disaster still have not been addressed. However, "many of its admonitory lessons were either ignored or inadequately applied." In many ways, the horrors of Hurricane Katrina were also exaggerated and in turn led to additional tragedies, such as the police shootings of unarmed residents and subsequent cover-up on Danziger Bridge. New homes stand in the Lower Ninth Ward on May 15, 2015. The final official death toll in the Superdome came to six people inside (4 of natural causes, one overdose, and an apparent suicide) and a few more in the general area outside the stadium. The cost to repair the dome was initially stated by Superdome commission chairman Tim Coulon to be up to $400 million. While Mouton and Thornton worked to find space for them to operate, two massive, 18-wheeler refrigerated trucks pulled into the loading dock, not far from the door where new arrivals entered the building. They had to find out if they could move these people. [13], When the serious flooding of the city began on August 30 after the levees had broken, the Superdome began to fill slowly with water, though it remained confined only to the field level. Mahogany describes her actions before deciding to evacuate her home, her trip to the New Orleans Saints' Superdome, her horrific time at the Superdome, and finally her decision to leave New Orleans. Before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, there were roughly 2,000 foster children registered in the state. Hurricane Katrina made landfall off the coast of Louisiana on August 29, 2005. On June 4, 2006, Pamela Mahogany was interviewed for her personal experience involving the events following Hurricane Katrina. At 1:30 in the morning, Denise Thornton walked with her group up to the helipad, out in the open air, and there it was. 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. The storm initially formed as a tropical depression southeast of the Bahamas on August 23. We took him to the terrace and said, Look. , As he saw the floodwaters rising around the stadium, the man broke down. During the recovery stage, the process wasn't much better. [39] However, that number also counted four bodies that were near the dome. Following the historical damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina, the name Katrina was retired from the lists of names. He made two requests: Hed need a large contingent of National Guardsmen, and a few hours Sunday morning to prepare. [1], Hurricane Katrina was the third time the dome had been used as a public shelter. This was it. Roughly 14,000 people were inside now. 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. Early the next morning Thorntonwoke from a fitful sleep, then went out into the hallway outside his office. Food rotted inside the hundreds of refrigerators and freezers spread throughout the building; the smell was inescapable. Though downgraded to a category 3, the storms relatively slow forward movement (around 12 mph) covered the region with far more rain than a fast-moving storm would have. For now, theyd monitor. First delivery to the Superdome on August 31, 2005. Out of the at least 1,800 deaths caused by Hurricane Katrina, nearly half were elderly people. A woman gets carried out of floodwaters after being trapped in her home in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, on August 30, 2005. Hurricane Katrina Superdome New Orleans National Guard The Industrial Canal was later breached as well, flooding the neighborhood known as the Lower Ninth Ward. [21] The Astrodome started to fill up, so authorities began to transfer people to the nearby Reliant Arena, Reliant Center, and George R. Brown Convention Center in Downtown Houston in the following days. 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. For the remainder of that night, it was just Doug Thornton and a few remaining members of his management and security teams. If it rose, theyd evacuate. . [6] By this time, the population of the dome had nearly doubled within two days to approximately 30,000, as helicopters and vehicles capable of cutting through the deep flood waters picked up stranded citizens from hard-hit areas and brought them to the dome. 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. At their peak, hurricane relief shelters housed 273,000 people. 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. [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 was used as an emergency shelter although it was neither designed nor tested for the task. Local legend has it the 73,000-seat stadium was built atop a cemetery, cursing the football team that calls it home the Saints to an eternity as cellar-dwellers. Governor Blanco herself stated, "They have M-16s, and they are locked and loaded. But that was the only light they could see. [1] [13], On August 31, it was announced that the Superdome evacuees would be moved to the Astrodome in Houston. - 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). With the failure of the air conditioning, temperatures inside the Superdome reached the high 90s, with heavy humidity. Then the male employees, and, finally, the men who worked security would be the last to leave. 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. The 2005 New Orleans Bowl between the University of Southern Mississippi and Arkansas State University was moved from the Superdome to Cajun Field in Lafayette. Initially, the Superdome was described as a "lawless, depraved, and chaotic" place, with reports of numerous murders. Later that day, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco ordered New Orleans to be completely evacuated. At noon, they opened the doors and thousands of New Orleanians started shuffling in, carrying ice chests, kids toys, clothes, and whatever belongings they could carry. In addition, a Bleacher Report article quotes Thornton saying "We're not a hospital. You need to go take a look. In an analysis of 971 fatalities in Louisiana and 15 additional deaths of storm evacuees, 40% of deaths were caused by drowning. All Rights Reserved. And as Vox writes, this wasn't necessarily by choice "but rather because they were too poor to afford a car or bus fare to leave." Nagin left office in 2010, and was later convicted on charges of bribery, fraud and money laundering committed while in office. 11:09. Mouton suggested checking the water level every thirty minutes. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we cant bail out the city of New Orleans.. 4:23 PM EST, Mon January 16, 2023. One of the biggest issues was communication, since landlines weren't working, cell towers were down, and offices were flooded, writes State of Emergency. The bullet went through his own leg. As a result, the rumors of lawlessness in New Orleans actually made things much worse for stranded survivors. [46] Before that first game, the team announced it had sold out its entire home schedule to season ticket holders a first in the franchise's history.[47]. Thornton remembers Compass telling him: Thats why I wanted to come over here and tell you so that you can get your families out.Thornton says Compass then told him he was taking his men out of the Superdome, before hugging him and saying he enjoyed working with him all these years. Robert Fontaine walks past a burning house fire in New Orleans' Seventh Ward on September 6, 2005. Terry Ebbert, head of the citys emergency operations, warned that the slow evacuation at the Superdome had become an incredibly explosive situation, and he bitterly complained that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was not offering enough help. Revisit the timeline, impacts, controversy, and disaster recovery of August 2005's Hurricane Katrina, the costliest Atlantic hurricane on record. Updated However, there weren't enough trucks for the patients, so they had to stay in the dome. The Louisiana Superdome, once a mighty testament to architecture and ingenuity, became the biggest storm shelter in New Orleans the day before Katrina's arrival Monday. And although hurricanes are usually only 300 miles wide at most, Hurricane Katrina's winds stretched out over 400 miles, with wind speeds well in excess of 100 mph. [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. Daylight could be seen from inside the dome, and rain was pouring in. - About 25,000 storm evacuees were sheltered at the Louisiana Superdome, a sports arena. Cooper housing project. Nearly half the fatalities in Louisiana were people over the age of 74. The National Weather Service was revising its forecast again. Mouton found out that there were sandbags available on Franklin Avenue inLakefront. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Thornton and Mouton climbed into a Humvee and drove toward the New Orleans Convention Center, dodging debris and navigating through a little standing water down Poydras Street. Temperatures had reached the upper 80s, and the punctured dome at once allowed humidity in and trapped it there. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Black families have also had a harder time rebounding than white families. At its height as a category 5 hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, Katrinas wind speeds exceeded 170 miles per hour. 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. The fact that Black homeowners were more likely to face flooding than white homeowners wasn't an accident or bad luck. 14 Days - A Timeline | The Storm | FRONTLINE | PBS About850 patients with serious medical conditions some in hospice care would arrive to ride out the storm there; most of them from parts of the city not protected by the levee system. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. And it's possible that the deaths may have even numbered as high as 10,000. "Because medical care for foster children is paid for by in-state Medicaid, accessing prescription drugs was complicated" (per PBS), and many families evacuated out of state. "[3], The Superdome was built to withstand most natural catastrophes. FOX Facts: Hurricane Katrina Damage | Fox News It was already known that the generators would not provide lights or air conditioning for the whole dome if the power failed, and also pumps providing water to second-level restrooms wouldn't function. Hurricane Katrina | New Orleans History [34] However, after a National Guardsman was attacked with a metal rod, the National Guard put up barbed wire barricades to separate and protect themselves from the other people in the dome, and blocked people from exiting. On August 27 Katrina strengthened to a category 3 hurricane, with top winds exceeding 115 miles (185 km) per hour and a circulation that covered virtually the entire Gulf of Mexico. The Bayou Classic was moved from the Superdome to Reliant Stadium in Houston. In the United States, Louisiana has the "highest rate of beds per 1,000 persons ages 85 or more," but over half of the nursing homes in New Orleans decided against early evacuation. Blanco declined to seek reelection in 2007, and died in 2019. Another 20,000 people gathered at the Convention Center for assistance, an evacuation site the federal government was unaware of until three days after the storm. Denise Thornton was tasked with deciding the order of evacuation. Although Louisiana and Mississippi were most heavily affected, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia also suffered casualties due to the disaster. And cars were overturned on Poydras Street.. We had a very, lets just say, heated conversation with one of those guys about where they were positioning those trucks, said Thornton. A few of these groups wandered the concourse, stealing food and attacking anyone who stood up to them. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. [33], During the evening on August 31, about 700 elderly and ill patients were transported out by military helicopters and planes from Louis Armstrong International Airport to Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston. There is feces all over the place.. And,. The dome's emergency generator was able to power the internal lighting but little else; the building's air conditioning system would no longer operate, nor would the refrigeration system which was keeping food from spoiling. AP By 4:30 p.m., the winds were dying down and Thornton and Mouton went outside and surveyed the building. And despite the fact that this was meant to be a temporary shelter, they ended up being stranded in the stadium for a week. [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. 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. Thornton and Mouton found this odd, but figured the drains in the city had been backed up. They got it to the city and waited for their supplies. On the state and local level, Louisiana Gov. [16], At midnight that same day, a private helicopter arrived to evacuate some members of the National Guard and their families. Across 13 nursing homes and six hospitals that were investigated in Louisiana, at least 140 patients died as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina facts and information - Environment Everyone remembers Kanye West's infamous comment that "George Bush doesn't care about Black people," but the issue ran far deeper than just the feelings of the president. Most of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina was due to the fact that New Orleans' levees and floodwalls were breached. After levees and flood walls protecting New Orleans failed, much of the city was underwater. The hurricane and its aftermath claimed more than 1,800 lives, and it ranked as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. FEMA photo/Andrea Booher. They had no good options. September 1, 2005. Thornton felt the seconds ticking, each one more dangerous than the last. 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. The men sat in stunned silence. Cooper held about 1,000 families and was the city's largest housing project. A woman walks with a dog in the Lower Ninth Ward on May 16, 2015. On August 28, the storm was upgraded to a category 5 hurricane, with steady winds of 160 mph. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Katrina made landfall that morning as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds in excess of 135 mph. The population of New Orleans fell from 484,674 in April 2000 to 230,172 in July 2006, a decrease of over 50%. Out of 60 nursing homes in New Orleans, 21 had evacuated their residents in advance of Katrina. The Washington Post reports that not only did the Corps cut costs and pinch pennies in order to save money in the short term, but the engineering of the levees was "a disjointed fashion based on outdated data" (via Vox). You have to fight for your life. On the morning of August 29, 2005, Katrina made landfall around 60 miles southeast of New Orleans. Meanwhile, foster families struggled with making sure that their children had their medication. 70% of New Orleans occupied housing, 134,000 units, were damaged in the storm. A storm worth worrying about had entered the gulf. An estimated 80 percent of New Orleans was underwater by August 30. By 11 a.m. on August 30, Katrina had dwindled to heavy rainfall and winds of about 35 mph. Hurricane Katrina was a 2005 storm that affected the southeast coast of the United States. An interesting fact about Hurricane Katrina is that to date, it remains the costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. Doug Thornton knew he had to get his people out. 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. "[2], Despite these previous periods of emergency use, as Katrina approached the city, officials had not stockpiled enough generator fuel, food, and other supplies to handle the needs of the thousands of people seeking refuge there. It's not a hotel," said the emergency preparedness director for St. Tammany Parish to the Times-Picayune in 1999. About 16,000 people. Some of those who left later returned, and by 2020 the population reached just over 390,000, or about 80 percent of its pre-Katrina population. The New Orleans Saints played four of their scheduled home games at LSU's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, three at the Alamodome in San Antonio, and one at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. So they hoofed it. On the day the storm hit, two sets of notes sat tucked in a drawer . Food rotted inside of hundreds of refrigerators and freezers spread throughout the building; the smell was inescapable. You could see water everywhere.. What were Hurricane Katrinas wind speeds? The tiny jail cell down in the bowels of the Dome, which they kept for game-day security, was filling up. 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 try to get to higher ground as water rises on August 30, 2005, in New Orleans. There is feces on the walls, said Bryan Hebert, 43. A few blocks away, the strobes inside Charity Hospital flashed. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. [35], On September 4, NOPD chief Eddie Compass reported, "We don't have any substantiated rapes. Supplies were dangerously low, with one mother saying officials told her to reuse diapers by scraping them out when they got dirty. First went the disabled and the elderly. By 2021, the estimated population had increased to 376,971, according to the Census. And with everyone scattered, it became incredibly difficult to reunite children with their birth parents. FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. I was able to see how bad it was, even though it was night. 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. With limited power, no plumbing, a shredded roof and not nearly enough supplies to deal with 30,000 evacuees, it became a symbol of how unprepared the city and country had been for a storm experts knew could arrive. Hurricane Katrina, 10 years later: The myths that persist, debunked. It had barely risen at all maybe an inch. On May 16, 2015, new homes stand in a development, built by the Make It Right Foundation, for residents whose homes were destroyed. They mulled it over. They would back the fuel resupply truck up to the door, smash a hole in the wall, and run a line directly from the truck to the generator. [22][23][24] The last large group from the Superdome was evacuated on September 3. Hurricane Katrina had intruded on the last safe place. The emergency generator later failed, and engineers had to protect the backup generator from floodwaters by creating a hole in a wall and installing a new fuel line. Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the Louisiana Superdome All sources confirm deaths, although the numbers of the dead vary. It was going to be the big one. The White House writes that by February 2006, there were still over 2,000 people who were counted as missing, and many are still missing over 15 years after the storm. The facility housed 15,000 refugees who fled the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. There is no particular person for whom Hurricane Katrina was named. The domes water supply gave out Wednesday, and toilets began to overflow, filling the cavernous stadium with a nauseating smell. 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. Thornton finally spoke. At 7 am Katrina is a Category 5 with 160 mph maximum sustained winds. The generator kept burning. In addition to two unarmed civilians killed at Danziger Bridge, at least ten other people were shot by police in the first week after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. The streets were still flooded, perhaps even worse than before. But after the levees broke, the city buses went underwater. Between 20,000 and 30,000 people in New Orleans were evacuated to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. This is 40 or 50 feet up in the air. As general manager of the facility since 1997, he had been through this several times before. The food inside the freezers had soon rotted, and "the smell was inescapable.". A bustling black market has also emerged, with cigarettes, at $10 a pack, and anti-diuretics, which help forestall going to the bathroom, hot items. Some trapped inside also believe the curse is real. [13][35] The attacker was later jailed. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. At 10 a.m., the Thorntons headed together to the Superdome. 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. You have to fend people off constantly. 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. According to FiveThirtyEight, the Black middle class in particular was all but wiped out, and Black household incomes have fallen. The Thorntons woke early to the sound of the wind. But subsequent investigations revealed that not only was there prior knowledge that the storm was going to hit but that "long-term warnings went unheeded and government officials neglected their duties to prepare for a forewarned catastrophe," according to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Katrina caused over 1,800 deaths and $100 billion in . The generator was near ground level behind the Superdome, and water was pushing against its exterior door. It was Mayor Ray Nagins office. The agency also provided $6.7 billion in recovery aid to more than one million people and households. According to CBS News, it took until March 2006 to find all of them: "All but 12 were found alive. Up to a month after Hurricane Katrina, over 100 children were still unaccounted for, and it took until November to find everyone. 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. [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. Hurricane Katrina - Wikipedia 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. Engineers also didn't consider sinking land and soil quality, which led to a misjudgment of soil stability. 25% were caused by injury and trauma and 11% were caused by heart conditions. A violent, free-for-all riot seemed sure to break out with the next bit of bad news. Hurricane Katrina's Devastation in Photos - HISTORY Drowning was the major cause of death and people 75 years old and older were the most affected population cohort. By 2007, 99% of the 1.2 million personal property claims had been settled by insurers. Photo credit: AP Photo/Eric Gay. Theres five feet of water on Poydras Street..
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