[4], On August 28, 2005, at 6 am, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin announced that the Superdome would be used as a public shelter. We can't house people for five or six days. There is feces all over the place.. Hurricane Katrina had intruded on the last safe place. It was used as an emergency shelter although it was neither designed nor tested for the task. Gunfire has ricocheted down the corridors. 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. Katrina made landfall that morning as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds in excess of 135 mph. for victims from Orleans and St. Bernard Parish, where 86% of Katrina deaths occurred. After levees and flood walls protecting New Orleans failed, much of the city was underwater. Crack vials littered the bathrooms. 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. A hurricane warning is issued for north central Gulf . Every sink was broken. Between 20,000 and 30,000 people in New Orleans were evacuated to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The National Guard had pulled back from many parts of the building. Even though the dome never lost power, air conditioning, and running water during any of those storms, Superdome manager Doug Thornton recommended after Hurricane Georges for the dome to not be used as a shelter for anybody but special-needs evacuees. Three people died one a distraught man who jumped to his death, saying he had nothing left to live for. Robert Fontaine walks past a burning house fire in New Orleans' Seventh Ward on September 6, 2005. Hurricane Katrina Superdome New Orleans National Guard It was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. 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. 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. The area east of the Industrial Canal was the first part of the city to flood; by the afternoon of August 29, some 20 percent of the city was underwater. Thornton and Mouton went to work, spending a hour writing up a two-page, handwritten list of everything they needed. Four died of natural causes, one had a drug overdose, and one committed suicide. [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. 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. Mayor, youve got to get these people out of here, he said. Thornton finally spoke. New homes stand in the Lower Ninth Ward on May 15, 2015. To do that, they needed to keep it dry. The fact that Black homeowners were more likely to face flooding than white homeowners wasn't an accident or bad luck. But that was the only light they could see. 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. [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. Nagin left office in 2010, and was later convicted on charges of bribery, fraud and money laundering committed while in office. The water kept rising outside the exteriordoor, and was slowly coming in. Experts don't know exactly how many people lost their lives during Hurricane Katrina, but 1,800 is one of the low estimates, and over 1 million people lost their homes and were displaced. But it worked. Katrina victim who died in wheelchair honored - NBC News The groups went in shifts, sneaking down over to the garage, up the stairs and to the helipad. The chief of police had been given bad information. Because of this shortsightedness, Hurricane Katrina was "the nation's first $200 billion disaster.". Although post-traumatic stress symptoms showed a decline in the years after the hurricane, "one in six still had symptoms indicative of probable post-traumatic stress disorder.". As general manager of the facility since 1997, he had been through this several times before. After it made landfall in Louisiana on August 29, Hurricane Katrina produced widespread flooding in southeastern Louisiana because the levee system that held back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne was completely overwhelmed by 10 inches of rain and Katrinas storm surge. However, there was no water purification equipment on site, nor any chemical toilets, antibiotics, or anti-diarrheals stored for a crisis. 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. A woman cries after returning to her house and business, destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, on August 30, 2005, in Biloxi, Mississippi. Updates? 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 bullet went through his own leg. By the time the storm strengthened to a category 3 hurricane, winds exceeded 115 miles per hour. Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts | CNN The day . Wind and water damage to the roof created unsafe conditions, leading authorities to conduct emergency evacuations of the Superdome. You have to fight for your life. What Is A Brief Summary Of The Great Deluge By Douglas | ipl.org Within an hour, nearly every building in lower Plaquemines Parish would be destroyed. I thought it would be two days at most and wed be out, said Thornton. Outside, there was anarchy. It had barely risen at all maybe an inch. People wade through high water in front of the Superdome in New Orleans on August 30, 2005. 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. Mouton was there, walking quickly toward him. Cooper housing project play on mattresses on June 10, 2007. Ive been through a lot of hurricanes. [2] Approximately 10,000 residents, along with about 150 National Guardsmen, sheltered in the Superdome anticipating Katrina's landfall. That would be sorted out soon, Thornton thought, or maybe never at all. On Wednesday morning, Mouton and Thornton checked the water first thing. Apart from the foster children, roughly 5,000 additional children were listed as missing in the Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina. The men hooked up the line, fuel started flowing. If we had evacuated who knows what wouldve happened Thornton said. Thornton and Mouton just needed to find a way to keep things under control for 20 hours before it could be enacted. 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. As a result, according to ESRI, most minority communities ended up living in neighborhoods that were cheaply built and in areas more susceptible to flooding. 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. [8] Further damage included water damage to the electrical systems, and mold spread. Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. At 7 am Katrina is a Category 5 with 160 mph maximum sustained winds. Tempers began to flare as hunger and thirst deepened. However, there weren't enough trucks for the patients, so they had to stay in the dome. The water was still rising. - About 25,000 storm evacuees were sheltered at the Louisiana Superdome, a sports arena. Hurricane Katrina | Deaths, Damage, & Facts | Britannica In fact, the first hurricane-related deaths occurred the day before Katrina struck when three residents died whilst being evacuated to Baton Rouge. It damaged more than a million housing units in the region. PDF Abstract - Louisiana Department of Health Despite the strength of Hurricane Katrina, there was little about the storm that made it intrinsically deadly. FEMA infamously brought in trailers, "hastily built and steeped in toxic resins," that were used to house people after the hurricane. To see all these downtown buildings completely shut down, Thornton said. [29] However, the eventual cost to renovate and repair the dome was roughly $185 million and it was reopened for the Saints' first home game in the city in September 2006. More women are coming forward with stories of sexual. The office asked him if he could open up the Superdome as a refuge of last resort for the city of New Orleans. According to Talk Poverty, "a Black homeowner in New Orleans was more than three times as likely to have been flooded as a white homeowner. He flew on to Gonzales, where his wife was waiting for him. [28] Instead, the State of Louisiana and the operator of the dome, SMG, chose to repair and renovate the dome beginning in early 2006. . These are some messed up things that happened during Hurricane Katrina. This is ready to break. There was water pouring in every crevice, Thornton said. Southern Mississippi won over Arkansas State, 3119. 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. But the day before the hurricane hit, with the roads jammed with the vehicles of a million fleeing residents, the city of New Orleans decided to house people in the Superdome temporarily. Although Louisiana and Mississippi were most heavily affected, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia also suffered casualties due to the disaster. Many wonder if New Orleans can handle another Katrina. Up to 47% "were caused by acute and chronic diseases." Several hundredof Thorntons part-time employees had shown up as well, unable to evacuate, and hed placed them in one of the club lounges along with the families of some New Orleans Police Department officers. Temperatures had reached the upper 80s, and the punctured dome at once allowed humidity in and trapped it there. And although President Bush said on September 1, "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," days before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the White House was informed that the levees were likely to overtop and breach. 2023 Cable News Network. NOAA report- Direct deaths: 520 - Indirect deaths: 565 - Indeterminate cause: 307- Total number of fatalities: 1392. Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. People seek high ground on Interstate 90 as a helicopter prepares to land at the Superdome in New Orleans on August 31, 2005. A man had been caught sexually assaulting a young girl. Before Hurricane Katrina, B.W. At their peak, hurricane relief shelters housed 273,000 people. [9] Although 80 percent of the roof had been destroyed, ultimately, the damage to the roof proved not to be catastrophic, with the two repairable holes and the ripping off of most of the replaceable white rubber membrane on the outer layer. The hurricane and its aftermath claimed more than 1,800 lives, and it ranked as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Although the rebuilt levees are supposed to protect the city against a flood with a severity that comes every 100 years, the flood brought by Hurricane Katrina was one that, in theory, comes once every 400 years. Messed Up Things That Happened During Hurricane Katrina - Grunge.com There is feces on the walls, said Bryan Hebert, 43. It was the most eerie sight Ill ever recall in my life. The food inside the freezers had soon rotted, and "the smell was inescapable.". Michael Appleton/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images. A violent, free-for-all riot seemed sure to break out with the next bit of bad news. They mulled it over. And when the levees were breached, there were only two FEMA workers on the ground. The Superdome was, as far as Thornton was concerned, completely destroyed. The population of the festering, battered dome had gone from 15,000 to 30,000 in a short time as helicopters and vehicles capable of cutting through the water picked up stranded citizens and brought them to the only place left to go in the entire city. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin had ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city the previous day, and an estimated 1.2 million people left ahead of the storm. Thornton and Mouton unleashed days worth of frustration. Over the next several days the Domewould sink into chaos. [43], On October 21, 2005, owner Tom Benson issued a statement saying that he had not made any decision about the future of the Saints. 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. We cant spare 6 feet.. According to ABC News, it was claimed that "the levee breaches could not have been foreseen" and that the government had little warning before the hurricane. [13], On September 2, 475 buses were sent by FEMA to pick up evacuees from the dome and the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, where more than 20,000people had been crowded in similarly poor living conditions. Initially, the Superdome was described as a "lawless, depraved, and chaotic" place, with reports of numerous murders. And just from the sound of the rain and the wind, I said, Look. Hurricane Katrina had intruded on the last safe space.