Hurricane Katrina 2005

Hurricane Katrina 2005

Hurricane Katrina struck the city of New Orleans on August 29^th, 2005 catching the city unprepared for the massive floods that its squalls would bring. Katrina led to the structural failure of New Orleans federally constructed levee system, leaving 80% of the city totally flooded and leading to the deaths of 700 citizens. The storm would serve as a cultural watershed for America, not only because of the massive loss of human life, but because of the subsequent failure of the federal government organization, FEMA, to respond and rescue the survivors of the hardest-hit areas in timely fashion. The wards of New Orleans that were most heavily flooded and subsequently neglected by FEMA were also mostly populated by African-American citizens, leading to a debate of whether racism still influenced policy in the United States at its highest levels. 

Hurricane Survival Tips

There are few hurricane survival tips that could prepare New Orleans residents to survive the massive floods that Katrina brought. Many homes were flooded up to their roofs, communication infrastructure had been destroyed in many areas, and the city lacked the medical and food supplies to care for many of the people who took refuge in areas like the Superdome. For several days after the storm, New Orleans ceased to resemble any part of civilization as the scenes being broadcast that depicted its aftermath were more reminiscent of the ongoing US war in Iraq. Bodies were lying dead in the streets, entire city blocks were destroyed, and refugees were holed up in areas that lacked the infrastructure and supplies to care for them all. Most painfully, the lack of response from FEMA made it seem as if the rest of the country did not care about the plight that had befallen New Orleans.

FEMA

During a live, televised charity drive for victims of Katrina, musician Kanye West appeared onscreen, clearly agitated by the ongoing suffering in New Orleans. Near the end of his broadcast, he boldly blurted out “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” which sparked enormous controversy around the country. West suggested that the snail’s pace by which FEMA had gone to assist the black areas of New Orleans while the districts populated by mostly whites had been rapidly assisted was due to a structural level of racism on part of the federal government. His words, whether or not they were true, clearly fanned the flames of negative sentiment surrounding the entire disaster and effectively added another dimension to the suffering taking place there.

The events following Hurricane Katrina led to a total restructuring of FEMA and the resignation of its director. The tragedy brought many together, but pushed many apart, and would prove to be a pivotal moment in United States history.