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This Aug. 25, 2005, satellite image shows inbound Hurricane Katrina. The storm moved slowly, enabling heavy rains to linger longer over one area, the National Hurricane Center warned. The center forecast 6-10 inches of rain over Florida and the Bahamas, and up to 15 inches in some regions. Courtesy photo |
WASHINGTON, August 28, 2015 — Forecasters said the
hurricane would be bad, but no one expected a Katrina.
Hurricane Katrina hit the American Gulf Coast on Aug.
29, 2005, causing initial destruction from Texas to Florida.
It wreaked such damage over such a large area that it
changed the way the U.S. government responds to disasters.
According to the National Hurricane Center Katrina was
directly responsible for around 1,200 deaths, making it the
third most deadly hurricane in American history. It caused
$108 billion in property damage, making it the costliest
hurricane to strike the U.S.
DoD personnel were in
the middle of rescue and recovery efforts for weeks and
months after the storm hit.
More than 60,000 members
of the U.S. military forces were on the ground, first
saving, then sustaining lives.
An Enormous Effort
It was an enormous effort with 18,000 active duty
service members joining 43,000 National Guardsmen that
focused on Katrina relief operations.
And they were
needed. When Katrina hit, it caused a storm surge that
inundated whole coastlines, according to National Hurricane
Center Service measurements. The storm had sustained winds
of more than 120 mph. Portions of Louisiana and Mississippi
received 15 inches of rain.
Katrina knocked out power
and the communications grid crashed. Bridges, underpasses
and roads were all closed. Flooding forced relief personnel
to detour for miles.
Huge Storm
The size of the storm caused
its own set of problems. The storm surge in Mobile Bay --
fully 70 miles east of where Katrina hit land -- was still
between 12 and 16 feet. Hurricane force winds lashed the
Florida Panhandle.
Typically, hurricanes lose force
quickly once striking land. Not Katrina. Tornadoes and rain
lashed inland areas up into Georgia. Hurricane Katrina
affected over 93,000 square miles of the United States, an
area almost as large as Great Britain and left an estimated
five million people without power, according to the Federal
Emergency Management Agency.
Levees protecting the
city of New Orleans weren't high enough with the storm surge
overtopping some of the protective berms, and breaching
others. At a U.S. Senate hearing after the storm, Army Corps
of Engineers officials said there were 55 breaches in the
levee system protecting the city.
New Orleans Residents
Experience the Storm
New Orleans
officials estimated that 80 percent of the population
evacuated, but that still left between 50,000 and 60,000
people who were hunkering down in their homes or in
“last-chance” shelters like the Superdome. The levee
failures flooded about 80 percent of the city. Some 26,000
people who had taken refuge in the Superdome were surrounded
by water.
The city also sustained wind damage. The
Hyatt Hotel in downtown New Orleans had almost every window
blown out on the north side of the building.
The
Mississippi coast was devastated. Pass Christian, a pretty
town along the Gulf Coast, disappeared. The storm surge and
winds scoured the town leaving nothing but concrete slabs
where brick homes once stood. The surge picked up whole
section of a bridge that carried Route 90 and deposited the
huge concrete structure 200 to 300 meters inland. Strangely,
the other two lanes of the bridge remained in place. More
than 80 percent of the structures in Pass Christian were
destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, according to local
officials who had set up a headquarters in a relatively
unscathed gas station.
In Biloxi the surge picked up
freight train cars full of chicken and the winds broke them
apart. For weeks, the smell was something to behold.
Seabees based in Gulfport, Mississippi, began work with
their base essentially underwater.
Rescue
Efforts Commence
U.S. Coast Guard and
National Guard personnel moved in as soon as conditions
allowed. Coast Guardsmen were the first on the scene with
any kind of organization. Coast Guard helicopters skittered
across the city rescuing people from rooftops, from flooded
streets and providing the eyes for those following in their
wake. The Coast Guard helicopters were soon followed by
Coast Guard boats. The airport in Mobile became the world's
largest Coast Guard base with choppers from around the
service flying missions. Overall, Coast Guard personnel
rescued 33,544 people during Katrina operations, according
to their records. For its response, the Coast Guard received
the Presidential Unit Citation.
National Guardsmen
tried to move into the city even as the winds were blowing
and the rain was falling. Fallen trees and flooded roads
stalled their progress, said Guardsmen. Many of the
Guardsmen had lost their homes, yet they were heading out to
help others. There was confusion about what powers Guardsmen
had and who they reported to.
In New Orleans order
had broken down. Shortly after the hurricane passed looting
began and reports out of the city mentioned everything from
murder to rape to carjackings. Later investigations found
the reports were exaggerated, but it was no exaggeration
that the city was in dire straits.
Multi-Service Effort
National Guard forces entering the city conducted
humanitarian, search-and-rescue, evacuation and security
missions, officials reported. While Coast Guard, Air Force
and Army helicopters sought out those trapped in attics or
roofs, National Guardsmen and police conducted
house-to-house searches. The doors marked with an X and
information in the various quadrants saying who searched the
house, what was found and when the search was conducted,
soon became a familiar sign.
The Guardsmen were soon
joined by active-duty soldiers and Marines.
Navy and
Coast Guard vessels sailed up the Mississippi River to lend
the help their crews and facilities could provide. In time,
28 ships -- 21 Navy and seven Coast Guard -- were stationed
in the affected region.
Coordinating the DoD effort
was Army Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honore, who commanded Joint Task
Force Katrina. Honore, a Louisiana native, became a legend
for his gruff, no nonsense approach. “He got things done,”
then-New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said of Honore.
Getting Back to Normal
The Army Corps of Engineers set about mending the
breached levees and getting the pumping stations that
usually kept the below-sea-level city dry working again. It
was October before the floodwaters were pumped out.
There are still signs of Katrina in
New Orleans and along the coast. Then-President George W.
Bush said recovery would take years, and he was right. A
decade on, the area is still rebuilding. New, deeper levees
were emplaced, new water control apparatus erected. Some
areas were elevated, while others were cleared. It remains a
work in progress.
Katrina has served as a warning
against complacency, Federal Emergency Management Agency
officials said. It is an example of why people should take
evacuation orders seriously and be prepared for emergencies.
The loss of life and the damage from Katrina was so
severe, that the National Weather Service officially retired
Katrina from the Atlantic hurricane naming list.
By Jim Garamone
DOD News / Defense Media Activity
Copyright 2015
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