Katrina was a Catagory 4 hurricane and Andrew was a Catagory 5 hurricane. Why are there more dead people and damage with Katrina then Andrew? Is it because of flood?
Puzzling....
Question regarding Katrina
by sunshineToo 5 Replies latest jw friends
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Country Girl
It was because of the breadth of Katrina. She was much BIGGER than Andrew. Andew was a Cat 5, but his victimization was much smaller befause he was much smaller. So his damage was more isolated to one area, and Katrina was a step below him, but her width was much wider. She also affected an area that was not ready for the size of her wrath, but should have been. Everyone knew it was coming, but no one did anything about it. When you have a city that is six feet below sea level, and in the path of hurricanes every year, this shouldn't have been a surprise.CG
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Bubbamar
When the storm came up the Mississippi River it pushed the water up the river into the Lake. Then the lake overflowed into the city which is below sea level. The water rose pretty quickly - so a lot of people went into their attic to escape the water. The people who didn't bring an axe drowned in their attic. Growing up, I always heard that it "could" happen - but I guess I didn't expect it to really happen. What a horrible way to go. Also, a lot of people died in the aftermath because help was so slow in coming. It is SO HOT down there - easy to dehydrate quickly. Some people were already sick, disabled, lost medications, etc. A lot of people also died of criminal violence. So a lot of factors contributed to the death toll.
Hope that helps.
Marla of the "glad to be alive" class
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nowisee
hey marla!
glad you are ok!
yes, this storm affected a vast area....as pres. bush noted, an area the size of all of great britain. (p.s. - i am not a particular fan of pres. bush)
how would great britain have handled this if all of great britain was under water??
but this disaster does bring up a question: why do we humans (americans?) continue to tempt fate knowing well the potential dangers of...living in hurricane....earthquake...tornado...prone areas? do we just enjoy being in denial? do we think it will never happen to us?
best wishes to all, nowisee
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Bubbamar
Why do people continue to buy lottery tickets knowing they have a better chance of getting struck by lightning?
Why do people smoke cigarettes when there is no cure for lung cancer?
You are right about denial. I think we would all just shoot ourselves if we were constantly aware of all potentials dangers at all times. No one would drive a car or fly in plane or eat red meat, drink cokes, etc, etc.
I can tell you that now that I don't have the luxery of denial in this one area - I won't live in California, New Orleans or anywhere else that is just waiting for a natural disaster.
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Billygoat
Katrina was a Catagory 4 hurricane and Andrew was a Catagory 5 hurricane. Why are there more dead people and damage with Katrina then Andrew? Is it because of flood?
From what I understand, the storm itself was bad, but it was the flooding after the levee broke that was so deadly. Like everyone said, with the city being under sea level, it was a disaster waiting to happen. But like all tragedies in life, you never really realize how bad things could be until the worst has happened.
If we all lived in areas where Mother Nature's wrath didn't hit, what area of the US would be available? The west coast has earthquakes and mudslides, the north and north east have blizzards, the midwest and plain states have tornadoes, the gulf cost and west coast have hurricanes, floods and forest fires could happen almost in all of those areas.. There is no guaranteed safe place anywhere in this country. You just have to decide what you can live with and then live with it. We are not completely safe anywhere.