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1. The Damages and Economic Loss due to Hurricanes Isaac and Katrina Template Provided By Genigraphics – 800.790.4001 Replace This Text With Your Title John Smith, MD1; Jane Doe, PhD2; Frederick Smith, MD, PhD1,2 1University of Affiliation, 2Medical Center of Affiliation INTRODUCTION STORM SURGE HOUSING IMAPCT • Storm surge; Storm tide: An off shore rise of water due to a low pressure system. • The winds were so high during hurricane Katrina that the storm surge was almost 20+ ft at one point, causing one of the greatest civil engineering disasters in US history. Katrina was responsible for 1,833 deaths and over 105 billion dollars in damages and reconstruction. The high water damaged 30 oil platforms, straining the economy. • Isaac caused an average 12 ft storms surges alone the gulf coast. • This caused major flooding, putting thousands of people out of their homes and without power for months. The state of Mississippi suffered catastrophic damages and economic losses due to Hurricane Isaac and Katrina. These damages were caused by the effects of high winds, inland flooding, and storm surge. The housing industry in particular was greatly impacted by these storms, with a total of 316,000 destroyed homes from both storms in just the state of Mississippi. Although evacuation and numerous measures were taken before both hurricanes hit, no amount of preparation could control the damages and losses these hurricanes brought to Mississippi. • Many homes were destroyed by by the high flood waters and powerful storm surge, since much of the city was built at or below sea-level • In 2009, 74% of all current homeowners in New Orleans said their homes were damaged by Hurricane Katrina • Also in 2009, 5 in 10 of those homeowners reported major damage to their homes costing $15,000 or more to repair. • Around 300,000 homes were completely destroyed in Hurricane Katrina, with 81 billion dollars of property damages • 13,000 homes were damaged in Mississippi due to Isaac • It took years to rebuild the homes and some are not rebuilt even today. At the end of 2009, more than five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city; more than 44,200 housing units in New Orleans remain uninhabitable, • The lack of re-built homes hurt the New Orleans economy greatly INLAND FLOODING • Much of Mississippi and Louisiana are built in a flood plane • Due to this, much of the coast line (like New Orleans) was flooded due to the strong storm surge. lines have the storm surge from the • Katrina caused severe flooding and produced more than 1 inch of rain every hour, leaving some areas completely submerged under nearly 20 feet of water. • Isaac brought between 2-5 inches of rain • The levees were only built to stop a category 3 hurricane, so when they broke, The flooded the surrounding area quickly. A picture of Mississippi and the areas of greatest impact causes by Katrina HIGH WINDS • The high winds caused a lot of damage • Many roofs were ripped off and in turn created a lot of debris around the area • The flying debris caused even more damage than the winds did • Many stores were destroyed • Lots of trees were uprooted • 644,000 were without power in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas because of Isaac • Destroyed forms of transportation, making it difficult to get relief to people who needed it most This map shows the eye, red area, of Hurricane Katrina CONCLUSION Hurricane Isaac, a Category 1 hurricane, with 80 mph winds is said to have an estimated 2.5 billion dollars in total losses, while Hurricane Katrina, a Category 5 Hurricane, with 175 mph winds, caused nearly 108 billion dollars of damages and 1,833 deaths. With such severity of these storms, and although it has been 7 years since Katrina hit, the state of Mississippi is still rebuilding and recovering from the detrimental damages today. Hurricane Isaac’s path hit in almost the same location as Katrina