Hurricane Katrina in historical context

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Hurricane Katrina was the third most intense to hit the United States in recorded history. In the Atlantic Basin it achieved the status of the fourth lowest central pressure ever recorded, until later when Hurricane Rita became the third most intense, pushing Katrina down to fifth, and then Hurricane Wilma became the most intense, pushing Katrina down to sixth. Its 30 foot (10 m) storm surge recorded at Biloxi, Mississippi is the highest ever observed in North America.

Top six most intense Atlantic hurricanes since measurements began Hurricane intensity is measured solely by central pressure, source: NOAA
North Atlantic				Landfall U.S.
Rank	Hurricane	Year	Pressure mbar (hPa)	Rank	Hurricane	Year	Pressure mbar (hPa)
1	Wilma	2005	882	1	Labor Day	1935	892
2	Gilbert	1988	888	2	Camille	1969	909
3	Labor Day	1935	892	3	Katrina	2005	918
4	Rita	2005	897	4	Andrew	1992	922
5	Allen	1980	899	5	Indianola	1886	925
6	Katrina	2005	902	6	Florida Keys	1919	927
Based on data from: The Weather Channel				Based on data from: National Hurricane Center

Contents 1 Rainfall 2 By death toll 3 Other USA city devastations/disasters 4 Other disasters in New Orleans 5 Other levee and flood disasters 6 Comparison to other evacuations/refugee crises

Rainfall

Katrina produced slightly above average rains for a tropical cyclone, with nearly 16 1/2 inches of rain falling between South Miami and Perrine in South Florida, with totals of up towards 15 inches in Louisiana.

A storm total rainfall map can be found here: [1]

By death toll

Hurricane Katrina 2005 Atlantic hurricane season

Timeline Economic effects Damage to infrastructure Political effects Criticism of gov't response Social effects Effects by region Effects on Mississippi Effects on New Orleans N.O. hurricane preparedness Superdome—Astrodome Civil disturbances Infrastructure repairs Disaster relief International response Canadian response Dutch response French response Mexican response Russian response Singaporean response Swedish response Alternative theories Historical context Commons: Katrina images Wikinews: Katrina stories Wikisource: NOAA warning bulletin Wikisource: USACE on "unwatering" N.O.

As of current tallies, Katrina is the third-deadliest storm to hit the U.S. since 1900. However, as the process of collecting and identifying bodies continues, the death toll may rise above that of the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane.

Other storms that killed many people in the U.S. include:

• Two 1893 hurricanes in August (for Georgia/South Carolina) and October (in Louisiana) which doomed between 1000 and 2000 souls apiece.
• The Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed an estimated 6,000–12,000.
• The 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane, which killed at least 2,500 people in the US and over 1,000 in Puerto Rico.
• 1957's Hurricane Audrey, which killed 390, with up to 160 more never accounted for.
• 1969's Hurricane Camille, which killed 256.

Other deadly storms include:

• 1970 Bhola cyclone, the deadliest tropical cyclone on record, which killed at least 150,000 and perhaps as many as half a million in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
• Great Hurricane of 1780, which killed over 22,000.
• 1998's Hurricane Mitch, the deadliest named Atlantic storm, which killed more than 18,000 people in Central America.

Other USA city devastations/disasters

Katrina also caused the first substantial devastation of a major American city since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fires.

Other disasters in New Orleans

This is the greatest disaster in New Orleans since its founding in 1718. New Orleans has a known history of frequent and recurrent brushes with hurricanes. On average, New Orleans has been brushed every 3.94 years. Direct hurricane hits have occurred every 13.4 years on average.([2])

Other levee and flood disasters

No other levee breach in the USA has caused such a level of destruction or such an extensive evacuation. However, devastation in other parts of the world, caused by levee breaches, has been greater.

• The Johnstown Flood in 1889 killed 2,200 people when the South Fork Dam burst, submerging the city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Johnstown flood was the first major peacetime relief effort for the Red Cross.
• The Great Mississippi Flood along the Mississippi River in 1927–1928 killed 246 people, left approximately 700,000 homeless, and destroyed or damaged 137,000 buildings[3]
• The 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane breached levees around Lake Okeechobee in southern Florida, causing flooding over hundreds of square miles and killing over 2,500.
• 1931 Huang He flood and following levee breaches killed millions.
• The Great Flood of 1993 along the Mississippi River killed 47 people, displaced approximately 74,000, and destroyed or damaged 47,650 buildings ([4]).

Comparison to other evacuations/refugee crises

Other cities which have been evacuated are:

• In 2002 severe flooding led to the evacuation of 50,000 residents of Prague, Czech Republic, on 14 August [5], with a total of 200,000 Czechs during the second August week. [6]. Also partially evacuated in the same week were the German city of Dresden (120,000 evacuees) [7] and the town Bitterfeld (16,000).

• In January 2002, 300,000 residents of the city of Goma (Democratic Republic of the Congo) were evacuated in 3 days due to the eruption of the volcano Nyiragongo.[8][9][10]

• In April 2001, 77,000 inhabitants (around 2/3 of the population) of the Italian city Vicenza were evacuated for several hours so that an unexploded bomb, originally dropped in World War II, could be safely disarmed. [11]

• In 1999 the Kosovo War led to 800,000 refugees, not all of them urban residents, leaving Kosovo and being accommodated for up to 3 months in other parts of Europe.

• The Operation Storm in Croatia in 1991 conquered the separatist Republic of Serb Frontier after which a mass exodus of over 350,000 Croatian Serb people occurred.

• In April of 1986 roughly 200,000 people were evacuated from Chernobyl following a nuclear meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union).

• In November of 1979 the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada was evacuated following a chlorine leak after a freight train derailed. 218,000 were displaced.

• In October 1941 a mass evacuation of Moscow was ordered in the face of the threat of the attacking German Wehrmacht. 2 million inhabitants were displaced from the city within two weeks.

• In September 1939, at the outset of World War II, London and major British cities were evacuated with 1.5 million displacements in the first 3 days of the official evacuation taking place reaching a final total of 3.75 million.

• The Great Fire that resulted from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake lead to the sea evacuation from the city on 20 April of 20,000 refugees. [12]

• In 480 BC the Greek officer of state and navy commander Themistocles ordered the evacuation of Athens as a strategic countermeasure to the approaching Persian army, leading to 100,000 inhabitants being displaced in the late summer.