Sunday 6 October 2013

Coast Case Study: Hurricane Katrina New Orleans


 

29 August 2005

Causes:

Very lowlying land, 51% of new Orleans is at or below sea level

Average elevation of the city is 0.5m below sea level, some 3m

Most hurricane prone areas in the world

Category 4/5  and winds of over 100km/hour

Storm surge of 10m followed

Levees and flood walls failed – loss of natural wetland

Effects:

Parts of new Orleans under 6m of water

1800 died

Property damage between $60 billion & $125 billion

After the flood:

Multibillion $ plan to depopulate areas of coastline along the Gulf of Mexico

Re-establish a natural barrier – managed retreat

Army of Corps Engineers want to re-establish wetlands

$40 billion to buy out 17,000 houses in the Mississippi coastal region – bay St Louis

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