Katrina :: Storm Effects
Return To NewOrleans/HurricaneKatrina Homepage
Effects of the Storm :: Hurricane Katrina :: The Effects
Shortly before midnight on August 28, local television stations WAPT and WWL-TV reported the first deaths in Louisiana related to Katrina: three nursing home patients who died, probably of dehydration, during an evacuation to Baton Rouge.
On Monday August 29, area affiliates of local television station WDSU reported New Orleans was experiencing widespread flooding, was without power, and that there were several instances of catastrophic damage in residential as well as business areas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_New_Orleans
Continue below...
The Effects
Shortly before midnight on August 28, local television stations WAPT and WWL-TV reported the first deaths in Louisiana related to Katrina: three nursing home patients who died, probably of dehydration, during an evacuation to Baton Rouge.
On Monday August 29, area affiliates of local television station WDSU reported New Orleans was experiencing widespread flooding, was without power, and that there were several instances of catastrophic damage in residential as well as business areas. All metropolitan New Orleans television news services had evacuated their studios in the city and were broadcasting from remote locations. As of 2 p.m., the east side of New Orleans was under 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m) of water. Entire neighborhoods on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain were flooded.
At 11 p.m. on August 29, Mayor Ray Nagin conducted an interview with WWL discussing the damage to New Orleans. He described the loss of life as "significant" with reports of bodies floating on the water throughout the city, though primarily in the eastern portions. There was no clean water or electricity in the city, and some hotels and hospitals reported diesel fuel shortages. The estimate of restoration of power was at least four to six weeks for the city. A breach in the levee at the 17th Street Canal was causing further trouble; the pumps designed to pump water out of the city redirected into Lake Pontchartrain, which then circulated back through the breach. The I-10 pumps overheated, causing valve damage, also negating their effectiveness during the flooding. A representative from St. Bernard Parish reported "total devastation" with 40,000 homes flooded. The National Guard began setting up temporary morgues in select locations. He also said houses have been picked up and moved. In summary, he described the devastation as a "nightmare".
The Mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin told ABC's "Good Morning America" that residents of New Orleans should not expect to return to their homes for "twelve to sixteen weeks". Nagin also told reporters on August 31 that the hurricane may have killed thousands of people in the city. Allen Breed of the Associated Press reports that New Orleans "descended into anarchy Thursday, as corpses lay abandoned in street medians, fights and fires broke out and storm survivors battled for seats on the buses that would carry them away from the chaos. The tired and hungry seethed, saying they had been forsaken"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_New_Orleans
Storm Effects Homepage
Website Homepage
