In Environmental Management class we had to read about a specific cyclone and make a summery including important topics such as when and where it happened, category, effects, etc. I choose Katrina.
TROPICAL CYCLONE:
KATRINA
Hurricane
Katrina was one of the most destructive and deadliest hurricanes that ever hit
United States. It was on 25 August, 2005, over the southeast Louisiana and
southern Mississippi. It was category 4, as an extreme and dangerous storm.
An estimated 1,833 people died during this
hurricane and millions of other people were homeless or affected. It also affected the
following areas: Bahamas, Florida, New Orleans, Alabama, the east coast of
United states.
The hurricane
caused $108 billion in damage according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
The administration (NOAA).
Katrina formed 200 miles southwest of Bahamas, as a tropical
depression, storm clouds began to wrap around the north side of the storm’s
circulation center. Winds, of about 400 kph.
The effects were the following:
·
New Orleans was the most affected as it
lies below sea levels and is protected by levees. This protection was not
enough.
·
Despite the authorities order to
evacuate, many poor people remained in the city
·
People refuged in the Superdome
Stadium, the conditions were terrible, unhygienic, shortage of food and water.
·
1 million people were homeless.
·
1,200 people were drowned in the
floods.
·
Oil facilities were damages
There was a lot to criticize to the authorities, as many people were evacuated, but it was a slow process and the poorest and most vulnerable were left behind
First of all, we all know that water is very important for us and for life to be possible on Earth, as it is the main source of photosynthesis and water cycle. Moreover it is needed for humans and living things. However some people don't have acces to clean water, and it is a big problem around the world. Besides the distribution of water leads to problems of water shortage. This is a problem in many parts of the world eventhough there is a lot of fresh water as there is not a good distribution, this may be because water is not evenly distributed around the world, there is a less proportion of fresh and underground water than salty water. Other causes are: rivers are to small, there is a lot of water but on ice caps, so we can not consume it. In addition the population keeps on increasing disproportionately so there is a higher demand from people and industries. Finally the factories and industries continue to contribute to water pollution as a consecuence of city sewage and industrial waste discharge. That is one of the most important ecological problems nowadays, as toxic substances enter the water (lakes, rivers, oceans), they dissolved in and they degrade the water quality, contaminating the water, and damaging water animals. We can distinguish two types of countries, the water rich countries and the water poor countries. The first one are the ones with plentiful fresh water supplies (For example, Brazil, Russia and Canada). On the other hand the water poor ones are the ones that they do not have big water sources, (Saudi Arabia, Oman, Signapure).
