Chaotic conditions following the storm made evacuation and rescue risky. With most of the flooding as deep as 10 feet, it took weeks for waters to recede. Eighty percent of the city became submerged after the levee failures. Not everyone wanted or could leave home to take shelter. Winds reaching over 100 miles an hour damaged the shelter’s roof-after more than 10,000 people had flocked to the stadium. But the Superdome, itself, soon became compromised by the storm. For many, the city’s Louisiana Superdome became a last resort for escape. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin had issued a mandatory evacuation the night before Katrina struck, but up to 100,000 residents did not have access to transportation. READ MORE: Hurricane Katrina: 10 Facts About the Deadly Storm and Its Legacy Against the storm’s severe rainfall and storm surge, some barriers became unstable or were swept away altogether, causing major flooding. These structures proved to be no match against the intensity of Katrina. The water surrounding the city had always been protected by levees along the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Borgne and waterlogged swamps and marshes. With more than $100 billion in damages, communities, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, were displaced and more than 1,800 lives were lost.Īlthough half of New Orleans is above sea level, the city’s average elevation falls six feet below. Levees across the city started to break down, leading to mass flooding. Katrina was powerful, but nothing was more damaging than the aftermath to come. Over the course of the day, the storm gained steam, increasing from a category 3 to category 5 storm in a matter of nine hours. “We’ll see more storms like Ian.” _Īssociated Press contributors include Cody Jackson in Tampa, Florida Freida Frisaro in Miami Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida Seth Borenstein in Washington and Bobby Caina Calvan in New York.On August 29, 2005, the lively city of New Orleans was changed forever as Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast of the United States in the early morning hours. “This business about very, very heavy rain is something we’ve expected to see because of climate change,” said MIT atmospheric scientist Kerry Emanuel. While scientists generally avoid blaming climate change for specific storms without detailed analysis, Ian’s watery destruction fits what scientists have predicted for a warmer world: stronger and wetter hurricanes, though not necessarily more of them. Ian struck Florida with 150 mph (241 kph) winds that tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane ever to hit the U.S. Birgit Bodine of HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital. The sickest patients - some on ventilators - were crowded into the middle two floors as the staff prepared for storm victims to arrive, said Dr. In Port Charlotte, a hospital’s emergency room flooded and fierce winds ripped away part of the roof, sending water gushing into the intensive care unit. “Right now, there is no pier,” said Collier County Commissioner Penny Taylor. South of Sanibel Island, the historic beachfront pier in Naples was destroyed, with even the pilings torn out. Many in the hardest-hit areas were unable to call for help because of electrical and cellular outages.Ī chunk of the Sanibel Causeway fell into the sea, cutting off access to the barrier island where 6,300 people live. On Thursday afternoon, a steady stream of vehicles left Charleston, a 350-year-old city.Įmergency crews sawed through toppled trees to reach stranded people. National Guard troops were being positioned in South Carolina to help with the aftermath, including any water rescues. Rainfall of up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) threatened flooding from South Carolina to Virginia. With tropical-storm force winds reaching about 415 miles (665 kilometers) from its center, Ian was forecast to shove storm surge of 5 feet (1.5 meters) into coastal areas in Georgia and the Carolinas. Coast Guard, the National Guard and urban search-and-rescue teams.Īfter leaving Florida as a tropical storm Thursday and entering the Atlantic Ocean north of Cape Canaveral, Ian spun up into a hurricane again with winds of 75 mph (120 kph).Ī hurricane warning was issued for the South Carolina coast and extended to Cape Fear on the southeastern coast of North Carolina. Ron DeSantis said at least 700 rescues, mostly by air, have been conducted so far and involving the U.S. Cars were left abandoned in the road, having stalled when the storm surge flooded their engines.įlorida Gov. The road into Fort Myers was littered with broken trees, boat trailers and other debris.
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