Above is a top view of Hurricane Katrina. (Image courtesy of Hurricane Katrina News.)
Above is a map of New Orleans, LA. (Image courtesy of Google Maps.)
Hurricane Katrina was the most expensive, as well as one of the deadliest hurricanes in United States history. A state of emergency was declared two days before the hurricane touched land. The main reason that Katrina was such a disaster deals with the levee failures in Louisiana. The levees did not do their job in protecting the state. After the levees failed, 80 percent of New Orleans was covered in water. When all was said and done 1,836 people died with an additional 705 missing. The hurricane represented failure on a multitude of levels- engineering, social, and political. The levees were an obvious engineering fault. On the social level, some people resorted to looting and violence in a time which they felt was most advantageous. Politically, many feel that the government didn't lend enough help in a timely manner to the victims of the disaster.
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