2: Hurricane Katrina
The Event:
Hurricane Katrina originated in the Bahamas on August 23, 2005. It began as a rather small problem, classified as a Category 1 hurricane, but it would intensify into a Category 5 hurricane by August 28. By the time that it reached the Louisiana Coast it weakened to a Category 3 storm, eventually downgrading to a tropical storm after moving inland over Mississippi, but not before causing major damages. Due to aged and neglected levee systems in New Orleans, poorly-executed mandatory evacuations, and a questionably slow federal response, massive problems arose in the city. Hurricane Katrina affected a large portion of the southeastern United States, mainly in Louisiana, and resulted in 1,880 confirmed US deaths and damages equaling approximately $108 million.
Why is it in the Top 10?
This event falls into the Top 10 because of the huge impact that this event on the entire country (as this event is probably the most impactful thing to happen in the United States besides 9/11 since I have been alive); the large number of fatalities and the widespread damages make this one of the most significant events to happen during my lifetime. The environmental effects, of the flood waters carrying pollutants back into the Gulf of Mexico, also add another aspect to this already disastrous event.
Hurricane Katrina originated in the Bahamas on August 23, 2005. It began as a rather small problem, classified as a Category 1 hurricane, but it would intensify into a Category 5 hurricane by August 28. By the time that it reached the Louisiana Coast it weakened to a Category 3 storm, eventually downgrading to a tropical storm after moving inland over Mississippi, but not before causing major damages. Due to aged and neglected levee systems in New Orleans, poorly-executed mandatory evacuations, and a questionably slow federal response, massive problems arose in the city. Hurricane Katrina affected a large portion of the southeastern United States, mainly in Louisiana, and resulted in 1,880 confirmed US deaths and damages equaling approximately $108 million.
Why is it in the Top 10?
This event falls into the Top 10 because of the huge impact that this event on the entire country (as this event is probably the most impactful thing to happen in the United States besides 9/11 since I have been alive); the large number of fatalities and the widespread damages make this one of the most significant events to happen during my lifetime. The environmental effects, of the flood waters carrying pollutants back into the Gulf of Mexico, also add another aspect to this already disastrous event.