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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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October
2005
Volume
9 - Number 1 |
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Tracking Katrina In late August Katrina was named the 11th storm during
the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Thus far this hurricane has been considered
this season’s most fatal hurricane. Katrina’s tracking was as followed all
in Eastern Standard Time:
Thursday, August 25, 2005 • 4 p.m.: The National Hurricane Center officially declared Katrina a Category 1 hurricane. • 7 p.m.: Hurricane hits land in south Florida causing nine deaths and killing power to more than 1.2 million people. • 11 p.m.: Katrina comes ashore between Hallandale Beach and North Miami Beach with 80 mph winds. Friday, August 26, 2005 • 5 a.m.: The hurricane heads towards the Gulf of Mexico and regains hurricane status after it weakened to a tropical storm. • 11:30 a.m.: Katrina is upgraded to Category 2 storm. • 4 p.m.: The National Hurricane Center predicts Katrina to become a Category 4 hurricane before making landfall in Mississippi or Louisiana. Both the Mississippi Gov., Haley Barbour, and Louisiana Gov., Kathleen Blanco, declare states of emergency. Saturday, August 27, 2005 • 5 a.m.: Katrina becomes a Category 3 still headed for the Gulf. • Louisiana residents are told they should evacuate while President Bush declares a state of emergency in the state. • 11 p.m.: The National Hurricane Center issues a hurricane warning from Morgan City, Louisiana, to the Alabama-Florida border. Sunday, August 28, 2005 • 2 a.m.: Katrina escalates to Category 4, heading for the Gulf Coast. • 7 a.m.: Hurricane becomes a Category 5 hurricane, the worst and highest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale. • 10 a.m.: As the hurricane heads directly for New Orleans with winds of 175 mph the Mayor, Ray Nagin, orders mandatory evacuations. • Bush declares a state of emergency in Mississippi and orders federal assistance. The National Hurricane Center predicts the storm to hit the following day. Katrina is expected to deliver storm surges of up to 25 feet, and winds of 160 mph. Monday, August 29, 2005 • 4 a.m.: Hurricane Katrina is downgraded to a strong Category 4 storm. • 7 a.m.: Katrina hits land on the Louisiana coast between Grand Isle and the mouth of the Mississippi River. • 11a.m. Katrina reaches land again near the Louisiana-Mississippi state line. Winds are 125 mph winds. • Two New Orleans’s levees are breached, and the National Weather Service reports "total structural failure" in parts of New Orleans. A portion of the roof of the Superdome, where 10,000 people are taking refuge, opens. Many are feared dead in flooded neighborhoods across the city, which are under as much as 20 feet of water. • Dozens are dead in Mississippi. Possibly more than 1.3 million homes and businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are without electricity. • 10 p.m.: Katrina is downgraded to a tropical storm. Tuesday, August 30, 2005 • Katrina is downgraded to a tropical depression. • There is no power or clean drinking water in New Orleans. Food supplies are dwindling and there’s widespread looting and fires while waters are still rise. • Parts of Alabama flood. • The U.S. military starts to move ships and helicopters to the region at the request of the FEMA to aid the victims. |