Compare and contrast the impact of Hurricane Katrina 2005 on New Orleans and the Gulf coast of

the southern USA with Cyclone Nargis 2008 on Burma and the Irrawaddy Delta.
Hurricane Katrina Cyclone Nargis
New Orleans Irrawaddy Delta, Burma
Scale Of The Tropical • Highest Winds: 175mph • Cyclone Nargis was a strong tropical cyclone that
Storm • Category 5 hurricane. caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded
• Lost hurricane strength later in the storm, more history of Burma.
than 150miles inland. • It began as an intense tropical depression on April
• Costliest disaster in American history 27th 2008 in the Bay of Bengal.
• No electricity, no air-conditioning or water • Meteorologists initially thought that the storm
• City was reduced to a third world state would track over Bangladesh
• However, the storm changed direction and headed
towards Burma, where it made land over the
Irrawaddy delta in the south of the country on May
2nd.
• It had intensified into a category 3/4 storm on the
Simpson–Saffir scale
• 215 km/hr winds
• In some places 600mm of rain fell

Impact: Human Economic: Economic:

• $300 billion of damage
• 230,000 jobs lost from businesses damaged or
destroyed
• 30 0ffshore oil platforms sunk or went missing.
This increased the price of fuel.
• Shops in New Orleans were looted by residents
• 1/4 of America’s oil refining capacity was out of
action following Katrina.
Social:
• 1800 people killed
• 300,000 houses destroyed
• 3 million people left without electricity
• Main routes out of New Orleans closed because
parts of 1-30 bridge collapsed.
• Total of $4billion damage
• Millions of people lost their livelihoods
• 200,000 farm animals killed, crops were lost
• Over 40% food stores destroyed
Social:
• More than 140,000 people killed
• 450,000 houses destroyed
• 2-3 million people made homeless
• 1700 schools destroyed
Impact: Physical • Substantial beach erosion.
• The US Geological Survey has estimated 217
square miles (560 km2) of land was transformed
to water.
• Lost lands was breeding homes for animals such
as marine mammals, brown pelicans, turtles, and
fish, as well as migratory species such as redhead
ducks. Over 20% of marshes permanently turned
to water.
• Damage forced the closure of 16 National Wildlife
Refuges.
• Flood waters which covered New Orleans were
pumped into Lake Pontchartrain contained raw
sewage, bacteria, heavy metals, pesticides, toxic
chemicals and over 24million litres of oil.
Management: Short Term • The cost guard rescued more than 33,000
Response (local, national stranded people
and international scale) • There was a military presence
• Countries offering money include: Cuba,
Venezuela, Kuwait, WAE, South Korea, Australia
and China
• India sent tarps, blankets and hygiene kits
• The USA refused aid from Venezuela
• President Bush praised Michael Brown before it
was apparent that FEMA had handled the disaster
badly and he was fired.
• Katrina was publicized in the world media
• NHC gave a hurricane warning and an evacuation
order, 24 hours before Katrina made landfall
• Images of leaders distributing aid were shown.
• The Irrawaddy delta in Burma was the worst hit
area. The delta contains 7 million of the country’s
53 million people, with nearly 2 million of these
living on land that is less than 5m above sea level,
it has a population density of 100/km2, leaving
them extremely vulnerable. Some towns lost 90%
of their homes, with 70% of their population dead
or missing.
• The agricultural land is very fertile, being regarded
as the nation’s ‘rice bowl’, and hence any damage
to it would affect the whole country.
• 10,000 people had been killed by the sea surge
due to its coastal area.
• Labutta, a small town in the south west of the
delta region was devastated with 50% of houses
being destroyed.
• Interviews also suggested that local people think
that where mangroves had been destroyed, the
tidal surge was able to penetrate far inland and
destroy homes, inundate farmland, and wash
people away (In Kan Bala Tabin village in the
Labutta township, where villagers planted and
maintained 380 ha (940 acres) of mangroves,
seven out of the 300 inhabitants were killed by the
storm surge. The low mortality rate was attributed
to the presence of mangrove plantations)
• The Junta refused aid, because they were paranoid
of foreign interference.
• Foreign media was banned. Video footage had to
be smuggled out of the country. Journalists were
threatened with imprisonment or deported
• There was no warning given
• Recovery period much longer for LEDCs. Irrawaddy
Delta is the rice-bowl of Burma. The country
depends on it for domestic food supplies.
• Junta sold foreign donated aid, passing it off as its
own
• Burmese Junta accused of forced labour, child
labour, stealing food aid, deliberately withholding
aid, and genocide against the Karen people who
are a minority ethnic group who live in the delta.
• Images of leaders distributing aid were shown.
Management: Long Term • Congress authorised $63 billion for aid.
Response (Local, • Corporate donations of near $1 billion
National and
International scale)