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By 2021, the estimated population had increased to 376,971, according to the Census. At its height as a category 5 hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, Katrinas wind speeds exceeded 170 miles per hour. Thats been the history. In addition, a Bleacher Report article quotes Thornton saying "We're not a hospital. In fact, the first hurricane-related deaths occurred the day before Katrina struck when three residents died whilst being evacuated to Baton Rouge. They were taken to the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Baton Rouge. Residents of the B.W. People seek high ground on Interstate 90 as a helicopter prepares to land at the Superdome in New Orleans on August 31, 2005. This is not normal.. Returning to Washington from Texas, Air Force One descended to about 5,000 feet to allow Bush to view some of the worst damage from Hurricane Katrina. It would be impossible to drive there with the roads in their current state, so Mouton called inBlackhawk helicopters to get them. ", Ultimately, it's unknown exactly what the death toll of Hurricane Katrina was. Inside the Superdome, things were descending further into hell. The bad news is its going to take us several days to pump the water out of the city even if they can stop the water flow from coming in, Thornton recalls Nagin saying. On June 4, 2006, Pamela Mahogany was interviewed for her personal experience involving the events following Hurricane Katrina. There is feces all over the place.. The owners, Salvador and Mabel Mangano, ended up facing the only criminal charges directly related to Hurricane Katrina, as they were charged with negligent homicide due to their refusal to evacuate their residents. First went the disabled and the elderly. [14] With no power or clean water supply, sanitary conditions within the Superdome had rapidly deteriorated. Blanco declined to seek reelection in 2007, and died in 2019. [34] However, after a National Guardsman was attacked with a metal rod, the National Guard put up barbed wire barricades to separate and protect themselves from the other people in the dome, and blocked people from exiting. Hurricane Katrina was a tropical cyclone that struck the southeastern United States in late August 2005. Those without cars were in theory going to be picked up by city buses at stops throughout the city and taken two hours north of New Orleans. The men hooked up the line, fuel started flowing. It took 17 men several hours to do the job. Nothing.. We will investigate if the individuals come forward. The Industrial Canal was later breached as well, flooding the neighborhood known as the Lower Ninth Ward. Hurricane Ivan it was less than that. Nearly half the fatalities in Louisiana were people over the age of 74. Isaac Chipps contributed reporting to this story. There was water pouring in every crevice, Thornton said. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. The National Flood Insurance Program paid out $16 billion in claims. Katrina's death toll is the fourth highest of any hurricane in U.S. history, after the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed between 8,000 and 12,000 people; Hurricane Maria, which. A woman cries after returning to her house and business, destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, on August 30, 2005, in Biloxi, Mississippi. The air smelled toxic. In this satellite image, a close-up of the center of Hurricane Katrina's rotation is seen at 9:45 a.m. EST on August 29, 2005 over southeastern Louisiana. Theres five feet of water on Poydras Street.. It continued on a course to the northeast, crossing the Mississippi Sound and making a second landfall later that morning near the mouth of the Pearl River. June 2006 - The Government Accountability Office releases a report that concludes at least $1 billion in disaster relief payments made by FEMA were improper and potentially fraudulent. It took two days for 1,000 more FEMA officials to arrive, but once they did, FEMA "slowed the evacuation with unworkable paperwork and certification requirements." As buses finally started arriving to pluck refugees from the Louisiana Superdome yesterday, a horrifying picture emerged of the squalor, violence and mayhem that they faced during the days spent huddled in the stadium. Although there was a "maintenance regime" theoretically in place for the levees, the Senate committee found that it was "in no way commensurate with the risk posed to these persons and their property." Daylight could be seen from inside the dome, and rain was pouring in. The backup generator for the lights was barely able to be kept afloat, and after the water supply gave out, the toilets "became inoperable and began to overflow." An interesting fact about Hurricane Katrina is that to date, it remains the costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Discovery Company. Out of the at least 1,800 deaths caused by Hurricane Katrina, nearly half were elderly people. [28] Instead, the State of Louisiana and the operator of the dome, SMG, chose to repair and renovate the dome beginning in early 2006. The smell of the air became humid, tropical. 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. 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. . Severe flooding damage to cities along the Gulf Coast, from New Orleans to Biloxi, Mississippi. But over the Gulf of Mexico, some 165 miles west of Key West, the storm gathered strength above the warmer waters of the gulf. 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. Unfortunately, due to the sensationalist stories regarding the Superdome, the rumors were used to justify "turn[ing] New Orleans into a prison city," according to The Guardian. It's not a hotel," said the emergency preparedness director for St. Tammany Parish to the Times-Picayune in 1999. Up to 47% "were caused by acute and chronic diseases." [33], During the evening on August 31, about 700 elderly and ill patients were transported out by military helicopters and planes from Louis Armstrong International Airport to Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston. The men sat in stunned silence. Over the next two days the weather system gathered strength, earning the designation Tropical Storm Katrina, and it made landfall between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a category 1 hurricanea storm that, on the Saffir-Simpson scale, exhibits winds in the range of 7495 miles (119154 km) per hour. 2008 Dec;2(4):215-23. doi: 10.1097/DMP.0b013e31818aaf55. With top winds of around 80 mph, the storm was relatively weak, but enough to knock out power for about 1 million and cause $630 million of damage. Deaths in the Superdome. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Hell if I know, the mechanic said. Crack vials littered the bathrooms. In the bathrooms, every toilet had ceased to function. I thought it would be two days at most and wed be out, said Thornton. 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. It wasnt until midnight that things started to settle down. Michael Appleton/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images. The final official death toll in the Superdome came to six people inside (4 of natural causes, one overdose, and an apparent suicide) and a few more in the general area outside the stadium. Many people living in the South Florida area were unaware when Katrina strengthened from a tropical storm to a hurricane in one day and struck southern Florida on August 25, 2005, near the Miami-Dade - Broward county line. [6] By this time, the population of the dome had nearly doubled within two days to approximately 30,000, as helicopters and vehicles capable of cutting through the deep flood waters picked up stranded citizens from hard-hit areas and brought them to the dome. On the flight out west, Thornton looked down and saw his home in Lakewood South, as well as the seven feet of water surrounding it. They found a 50-foot fuel line and screwed it into the reserve tank of the generator, then ran it out to the truck, which was parked in several feet of water outside the exterior door. Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. No electricity in New Orleans meant no air conditioning in the dome, filling it with a horrible, muggy heat. Doug dropped his wife off at their home in the affluent Lakewood South neighborhood of New Orleans, right near the levee at the 17th Street Canal, and drove to the Louisiana Superdome. And with everyone scattered, it became incredibly difficult to reunite children with their birth parents. There wasnt much more he could do. According to National Geographic, "some argue that indirect hurricane deaths, like being unable to access medical care, should be counted in official numbers.". A FEMA medical team at the Superdome on August 31, 2005. 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. It ran into the reserve tank. Hurricane Katrina deaths, Louisiana, 2005 Disaster Med Public Health Prep. They were acquitted in 2007. [32] New Orleans Police Department chief Eddie Compass appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and reported seeing "little babies getting raped" and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin also said he saw hooligans raping and killing people. In the hours before the storm hit and thenafter it left when the levees failedand everything changed the people who remained in New Orleans streamed toward a place where usually they would go to watch football, the massive structure at the citys heart, the Superdome. NPR reports that before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, "Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, FEMA Director Michael Brown and other top Homeland Security officials received emails on their blackberries warning that Katrina posed a dire threat." 70% of New Orleans occupied housing, 134,000 units, were damaged in the storm. Rumours spread in the press of reports of rapes, violent assaults, murders, drug abuse, and gang activity inside the Superdome, most of which were entirely unsubstantiated and without witnesses. You have to fight for your life. A man pushes his bicycle through flood waters near the Superdome in New Orleans on Aug. 31, 2005. Thornton and Mouton just needed to find a way to keep things under control for 20 hours before it could be enacted. They got it to the city and waited for their supplies. So that means youre going to have to be here probably another 5 or 6 days., Mr. 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. 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. . The water kept rising outside the exteriordoor, and was slowly coming in. An aerial view of the catastrophic flooding in Downtown New Orleans on August 31, 2005. They had to find out if they could move these people. Blood and feces covered the walls of the facility. Though downgraded to a category 3, the storms relatively slow forward movement (around 12 mph) covered the region with far more rain than a fast-moving storm would have. This is 40 or 50 feet up in the air. The fact that Black homeowners were more likely to face flooding than white homeowners wasn't an accident or bad luck. At noon, he boarded a helicopter. Some trapped inside also believe the curse is real. Hurricane Katrina had intruded on the last safe space. Miller told a reporter. But now, in the moonlight, she finally understood what had happened. Back in 2005, Nagin went on the Today Show and said, "it wouldn't be unreasonable to have 10,000" deaths from Hurricane Katrina. On the day the storm hit, two sets of notes sat tucked in a drawer . The facility housed 15,000 refugees who fled the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. The buildings air conditioning system would no longer run, nor would the refrigeration system keeping massive amounts of food from spoiling. Then the male employees, and, finally, the men who worked security would be the last to leave. But its the only shot we got.. This story has been shared 177,659 times. They drove four hours from Bossier City where Doug, an executive with SMG, managed a facility back to New Orleans, a lone car on the inbound side of the highway as thousands upon thousands of cars sat in traffic on the outbound lanes. And although hurricanes are usually only 300 miles wide at most, Hurricane Katrina's winds stretched out over 400 miles, with wind speeds well in excess of 100 mph. It was already known that the generators would not provide lights or air conditioning for the whole dome if the power failed, and also pumps providing water to second-level restrooms wouldn't function. [17][18] 25,000 evacuees were taken to the Astrodome in Houston, while another 25,000 were taken to San Antonio and Dallas. In New Orleans, where much of the greater metropolitan area is below sea level, federal officials initially believed that the city had dodged the bullet. While New Orleans had been spared a direct hit by the intense winds of the storm, the true threat was soon apparent. The day . However, this didn't happen because the storm was too strong it happened due to the failures of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The bullet went through his own leg. Mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin had stated that as a "refuge of last resort," only limited food, water, and supplies would be provided. "[3], The Superdome was built to withstand most natural catastrophes. The 2005 New Orleans Bowl between the University of Southern Mississippi and Arkansas State University was moved from the Superdome to Cajun Field in Lafayette. Supplies were running low, and as the National Guard began to ration things like water and diapers the crowd grew incensed and accused them of hoarding goods for their own use. You have to fend people off constantly. It was going to be the big one. They either remained in their homes or sought shelter at locations such as the New Orleans Convention Center or the Louisiana Superdome. Children slept in pools of urine. [7] Medical machines also failed, which prompted a decision to move patients to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The White House writes that by February 2006, there were still over 2,000 people who were counted as missing, and many are still missing over 15 years after the storm. As some people tried to get supplies to survive, the media portrayed them as "looters," a term that the LA Times notes is more often applied to Black people than white people. It is 250 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. [7] According to many, the smell inside the stadium was revolting due to the breakdown of the plumbing system, which included all toilets and urinals in the building, forcing people to urinate and defecate in other areas such as garbage cans and sinks. Photo. Most deaths were caused by acute and chronic diseases (47%), and drowning (33%). They would back the fuel resupply truck up to the door, smash a hole in the wall, and run a line directly from the truck to the generator. And then thenext morning, more bad news: The buses had been rerouted and delayed, sent to a highway overpass where people were stranded. Although Louisiana and Mississippi were most heavily affected, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia also suffered casualties due to the disaster. Lets think about that very carefully, he said. Hours before three major levees were breached, President Bush announced that New Orleans had "dodged a bullet," despite the fact that Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco had already requested federal assistance two days before the hurricane hit, according to The Society Pages. One of the worst disasters in U.S. history, Katrina caused an estimated $161 billion in damage. Huge crowds of seething and tense people jammed the main concourse outside the dome hoping to get on the buses to the Astrodome in Houston, 350 miles away. Well, Thornton replied, our generator has 10 inches to spare. And as the media portrayed New Orleans as a lawless place filled with violence with overblown and unverified reports, police and rescue efforts were redirected against the imaginary violence. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. New Orleans went from having a public school system to having a school system composed almost entirely of charter schools, most of them run by charter management organizations. I was able to see how bad it was, even though it was night. After a traffic jam kept buses from arriving at the Superdome for nearly four hours, a near-riot broke out in the scramble to get on the buses that finally did show up. The outer ends of the hurricane also produced tornados, although they only damaged power lines and trees. Mouton found out that there were sandbags available on Franklin Avenue inLakefront. In New Orleans, the evacuation plan reportedly "fell apart even before the storm hit." [39] However, that number also counted four bodies that were near the dome.