Misfortunate Monday: Hurricane Katrina

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your tour guide to all the historical fun that this world has to offer! Today we'll be taking a look at Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest hurricanes of modern history. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's dive straight into it!

     Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana on August 29th, 2005. It hit land as a Category 3 storm with winds of up to 120 miles per hour. Because of the following destruction and death, it is widely regarded as the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history, clocking in at 1,200 deaths and $108 billion dollars of damage. 

     The devastating hurricane revealed a series of problems in regard to the federal government's response to the disaster, mostly in the search-and-rescue department. The lack of preparedness was also brought into question after it was revealed that 50 levees broke during the hurricane. The main victims of Hurricane Katrina were lower-income families who lived in the low suburbs of New Orleans.

     Fun Facts: 

• An estimated 80% of New Orleans was underwater, some places up to 20 feet deep in water.
• Hurricane Katrina impacted a staggering 90,000 square miles of land.
• The levees in New Orleans were only designed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane, but Katrina peaked at a Category 5.

     Picture of Hurricane Katrina:

     

     Sources: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/reference/hurricane-  katrina/

     https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-hurricane-katrina