Let’s commemorate Hurricane Katrina’s 18th anniversary with evacuation plans
28th August 2023 · 0 Comments
Everyone who was in New Orleans on Monday, August 29, 2005, can tell you where they were when Hurricane Katrina, the 100-year storm, rushed into the Crescent City.
Hurricane Katrina submerged the city, sent people running for high ground and safety, caused death and destruction, and washed away homes and lives. New Orleans has not yet fully recovered from the damage it took hours to cause but will take decades to correct.
Traveling around the city this year, especially in downtown New Orleans and beyond, Hurricane Katrina’s impact still looms large. Blighted properties, boarded-up houses and businesses, empty lots where homes once stood, and overgrown lots speak loudly about the life-altering event.
Hurricane Katrina affected more than 15 million people in different ways, from having to evacuate their homes and losing loved ones to increases in gas prices and economic suffering. An estimated 80 percent of New Orleans was underwater, up to 20 feet deep in places, according to DoSomething.org, a global movement of millions of young people making positive change, online and off.
DoSomething.org gathered significant facts about Hurricane Katrina from a variety of sources, facts including:
• Hurricane Katrina was the most prominent and 3rd strongest hurricane ever recorded to make landfall in the U.S.
• In New Orleans, the levees were designed for Category 3, but Katrina peaked at a Category 5 hurricane, with winds up to 175 mph.
• The final death toll was 1,836, primarily from Louisiana (1,577) and Mississippi (238). More than half of these victims were senior citizens.
• Hurricane Katrina caused $81 billion in property damages. Still, it is estimated that the total economic impact in Louisiana and Mississippi may exceed $150 billion, earning the title of costliest hurricane ever in U.S. history.
• Hurricane Katrina impacted about 90,000 square miles.
Other data suggest that the hurricane left hundreds of thousands of local residents unemployed and homeless.
The most egregious fact about Hurricane Katrina is that residents’ deaths were avoidable. The levees didn’t hold because the design of the levees was wrong.
Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina set a declining population trend in New Orleans that continues today.
The city’s population was 494,294 on July 1, 2005, a month before Hurricane Katrina, before dropping to 230,172 in 2006. In 2023, New Orleans’ population was estimated to be 364,659. This is a 4.86 percent decrease from the 2020 census, which recorded a population of 383,282. New Orleans’s population is currently declining at -1.65 percent annually.
What was not included in any facts and stats is the trauma, loss of identity, starting from scratch with nothing, being in strange places caused by the hurricane, and feelings that some still struggle with today.
But as the old saying goes, there is a silver lining for every cloud.
Katrina was a blessing in disguise for some of the tens of thousands who fled the city. Many landed in states and places where good-paying jobs and upward mobility are the norm. They live their best-rebuilt lives and aren’t considering returning to New Orleans.
Some native New Orleanians, unwilling to be estranged from their roots, returned home and restarted their lives. Their loyalty to their birthplace and familial culture is admirable, but they live in a city that has yet to fully recover from the hurricane’s destruction.
As the 18th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, we hope the hurricane season, which began in June 2023 and ends on November 30, will leave New Orleans unscathed, unlike in 2021, when Hurricane Ida struck New Orleans on the 17th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
According to the Louisiana Dept. of Health, more than 20 New Orleans-area residents died after the 2021 storm, amid a citywide power outage that took 10 days to fix. Hopefully, city leaders will ensure that Entergy will not leave people in the dark and extreme heat should a hurricane blow into New Orleans during this hurricane season.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting an average 2023 Hurricane Season. The season will have 12 to 17 named storms, with five to nine hurricanes. One to four storms are projected to be significant.
Seven tropical storms have already entered the U.S., hitting unlikely places and causing damage. Tropical Storm Hilary ran through southern California, destroying homes and leaving a river of mud in its wake.
The climate change debate would be laughable if the climate changes we are experiencing weren’t so deadly. People who don’t believe in climate change or scientific evidence are stupid. Look at politicians who deny climate change and pull up their campaign donors. Who do you see? Oil, gas, and coal producers. Some elected officials value profits and power over human life.
To its credit, the City of New Orleans has stepped up to assist people who can’t evacuate during a natural disaster.
City-assisted evacuation provides free transportation if you can’t evacuate alone during a mandatory evacuation. (Text EVACNOLA to 77295 if you need help.)
The Smoothie King Center is the hub for evacuation for residents who can’t leave on their own. Evacuees should come to the Smoothie King Center (1501 Dave Dixon Dr.), where they will be registered for evacuation. From there, evacuees will board a bus, train or airplane to a state or federal shelter. To get to the Smoothie King Center from your home, here are multiple options:
There are 17 pickup locations across the city, called evacuspots, where dedicated shuttle buses bring evacuees to the Smoothie King Center. Five evacuspots are specifically for seniors.
RTA Bus Routes: RTA will run on a Saturday schedule, and all bus routes ending at Duncan Plaza will make a final stop at the Smoothie King Center.
Drop-Offs and Walk-Ups: Evacuees can be dropped off or walk up to the Smoothie King Center from the intersection of Poydras and LaSalle Streets.
Uber/Lyft/Rideshare: If you use a ride to get to the Smoothie King Center, please be dropped off at Loyola Ave. and Dave Dixon Dr.
If you can’t evacuate independently because of medical needs, you might be eligible to be picked up from your home. Create a Smart911 profile and fill out the medical section.
For more tips on saving yourselves during a natural disaster and mandatory evacuation in New Orleans, visit https://ready.nola.gov/plan/
hurricane.
This article originally published in the August 28, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
