Hurricane Kathleen

Paper Summary:

Hurricane Katrina touched land near New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29, 2005 and its storm surge ripped the levees built to protect New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain. With hundreds dead and damage along the coastal regions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama costing more than $200 billion, Katrina is considered the most destructive and costliest tropical cyclone to hit the United States. This paper examines literature relating to Hurricane Katrina. Among the texts explored are: J. Galle's "Vulnerable Cities" (2005), "New Orleans' Levees Not Built for Worst Case Events" by B. Handwerk (2005) and "New Orleans: Nature's Revenge" by A. Blenford (2005).

Paper Outline:
Introduction
Review of Literature
Methods
Findings
Conclusion
Bibliography

From the Paper:

"Delta soils by nature compact and sink in time, giving way to open water, except when fresh layers of sediments are placed to offset them. The Mississippi spring floods previously retained that balance, but yearly deluges were often destructive. The strong flood 1927 erased the levees, lined with concrete and funneled marsh-building sediments to the deep waters of the Gulf. Engineers also severed more than 8,000 miles of canals through the marsh for petroleum exploration and ship traffic (Bourne 2005). These new ditches increased the incidence of erosion and allowed huge and lethal amounts of salt water to penetrate and infiltrate brackish and freshwater marshes."

More papers on Hurricane Kathleen:

• Comparison Essay # 135058 : "Leadership During Hurricane Katrina"
• Term Paper # 69302 : "Hurricane Katrina"
• Persuasive Essay # 70566 : "Hurricane Katrina"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: