Hurricane Cyclones: Hurricane Katrina

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Hurricane Katrina

A hurricane is a tropical cyclone that normally occurs in the North Atlantic Ocean, North America and the North-eastern Pacific Ocean. These cyclones normally build up over parts of oceans with relatively warmer water. They derive their body from evaporating water from the ocean which condenses to form clouds and precipitate as rain when the moist air reaches saturation. The motion is imparted to the cyclones by the rotation of the earth. Tropical cyclones rotate anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere while the motion is opposite in the southern hemisphere.
A number of hurricanes have hit the North American continent since the formal documentation of hurricanes began. But very few have struck as hard as Hurricane Katrina
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The hurricanes are normally measured with the help of various satellite sensors. They use sensors that measure different types of radiations in the visible as well as infrared spectrum. The satellite images help determine their speed and size. They are also used to track the path of the hurricanes and predict the direction they may take. On land, the data are gathered from ships and land stations. Weather balloons are also used for the purpose. Weather hunters pass through the eye of the storm gathering data about the hurricane. All of this is later used in predicting the path and strength of future hurricanes by feeding them into sophisticated, high-end tropical forecast …show more content…
The hurricane brought with it storm surge as much as 27 foot high that penetrated 6 miles inland. Parts of city were completely leveled. Streets and bridges were washed away. Rains upto 10 inches were recorded due to the Katrina.
The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was terrifying. 1836 people lost their lives due to the hurricane while 135 are still missing. [1] Of them, 1577 belonged to Louisiana. Over 275,000 homes were destroyed. Thousands were left homeless and without food or water for days. The hurricane overpowered all efforts of containing the impact and affected hundreds of thousands of lives displacing them. It turned out to be the costliest hurricane in the history of United States causing damages worth over 100 billion dollars but estimates suggest the real figure might top 150 billion dollars. The economic impact was deep and far-reaching as it destroyed infrastructures and farm land expanding millions of acres. Thousands of people lost their jobs as the result of aftermath of the hurricane. Oil platforms and refineries were damaged forcing them to be

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