What happened during hurricane Katrina?

Answer 1

It was reported that more than 1,800 people died, and more than $81 billion dollars in damages where lost. 80% of the state of Louisiana became flooded and also large tracts of neighboring parishes, and the floodwaters lingered for years. People lost their homes and lives. Some survived, but anyway they surely or most likely had dead relatives or friends. There was an enormous loss of money, and that could have been a cause for more deaths and illness
it was a big disaster but the houses were blowing every where and trees were being riped out of the ground.

Answer 2

It was reported that more than 1,800 people died, and more than $81 billion dollars in damages where lost. 80% of the state of Louisiana became flooded and also large tracts of neighboring parishes, and the floodwaters lingered for years. People lost their homes and lives. Some survived, but anyway they surely or most likely had dead relatives or friends. There was an enormous loss of money, and that could have been a cause for more deaths and illness

Answer 3

The storm surge generated by the hurricane overtopped or broke through the levees protecting the city. As a result much of the city became flooded, as much as 80% at one point. Flooding remained in some areas for more than three weeks.

Relief efforts were overwhelmed, and more than 1800 people died in Louisiana from storm-related causes.

Answer 4

Levees and floodwalls in some parts of the city failed under the pressure of unprecedented high water pushed in by the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina. Weakened by rain, and not always built to the proper standards, the structures failed, and the water entered many low-lying areas of the city, to depths from 3 to 12 feet (1 to 4 m).

Why it happened

The vast majority of the city is below sea level. Only the Vieux Carre and some parts of Uptown, and some of suburban Metairie are above sea level. The areas that have the most residents depend on pumps to remove water from the streets, and canals to carry this water back to Lake Pontchartrain.

In the eastern part of the city, the storm surge swept over the levees, broke the floodwalls along the Industrial Canal, and flooded the 9th Ward, which was also flooded by Hurricane Betsy in 1965. Changes to the flood protection proved completely inadequate, even given the vast sums of money spent.

The central part of the city, including Lakeview, Gentilly, and Mid-City were not immediately affected, but breaches developed in three major canals, especially the 17th Street Canal between New Orleans and Metairie. Once the waters of Lake Pontchartrain began to fill the city, there was no way to stop them, and indeed never any real plan to try. The breaches were only closed days later.

Fatal Flaw

The problem is that the pumping stations which remove rainwater from the city are located well away from the current lakefront. Long canals are connected to the lake but the water in these canals is at whatever level the lake reaches. So the only thing between the residents and 8 feet of water are the levees and floodwalls. Even more unimaginably, if these break, there is absolutely no way to remove the water -- the pumps would push it into the canals and it would flow back through the hole again.

This was the fatal design flaw of the pumping system, and it languished for nearly a century. For various political, economic, and aesthetic reasons, no city or state administration ever attempted to build pumps or floodwalls at the lake itself. Even after the disaster, the relocation of major pumps will not be done. Instead, floodgates and large emergency pumps will be used to prevent a repeat of the catastrophe.

In suburban Metairie, all pumping stations are located on the lakefront, except for the one adjacent to New Orleans. Flooding in Metairie and Kenner was due to leakage and rainfall, after the pumping station operators were evacuated, then stranded away from the pumps. There was a good system, but poorly prepared and poorly used.

Answer 5

There was lots of water every where and lots of people died some people are still out of there houses today 5 years later.

Answer 6

If you're referring to the flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina it was in 2005.

Answer 7

A lot of homes in Louisiana were destroyed. APEX:)

Answer 8

The sea-defences were breeched and flooding occurred.