[42] Their first "home" game was played on September 19, 2005 against the New York Giants at Giants Stadium, which resulted in a 2710 loss. [37] This was done as covertly as possible so as to not cause rioting or charges of favoritism. Revisit the timeline, impacts, controversy, and disaster recovery of August 2005's Hurricane Katrina, the costliest Atlantic hurricane on record. One of the worst disasters in U.S. history, Katrina caused an estimated $161 billion in damage. Itll be harder to manage them. The heavy death toll of the hurricane and the subsequent flooding it caused drew international attention, along with widespread and lasting criticism of how local, state and federal authorities handled the storm and its aftermath. Never did we think wed be here for nearly a week.. FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. A helicopter rescues a family from a rooftop on September 1, 2005. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin had ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city the previous day, and an estimated 1.2 million people left ahead of the storm. However, it was later found that despite the poor conditions in the Superdome, "it was not the murderous hellhole" it was reported to be. There was a plan. We've received your submission. According to NBC News, the average age of victims was 69, and "just under half of all victims were 75 or older." Some trapped inside also believe the curse is real. Its tenants, the New Orleans Saints, were talking about an open-air stadium on the Mississippi river or moving to another city. On Wednesday morning, Mouton and Thornton checked the water first thing. It quickly intensified when it reached the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Out of the at least 1,800 deaths caused by Hurricane Katrina, nearly half were elderly people. They knew they needed to do a security check before allowing the people inside they couldnt risk anyone bringing guns and knives inside the Dome. There were two reports of rape, one involving a child. In addition, according to the journalSocial Science & Medicine, there were also long-term mental health consequences of Hurricane Katrina. You have to fight for your life. So they hoofed it. It also had burned through half of the fuel in the 1,000-gallon tank. "[2], Despite these previous periods of emergency use, as Katrina approached the city, officials had not stockpiled enough generator fuel, food, and other supplies to handle the needs of the thousands of people seeking refuge there. "[38] On that same day, 10 deaths were reported at the Superdome by CBS News. A woman walks with a dog in the Lower Ninth Ward on May 16, 2015. Thats been the history. The generator was near ground level behind the Superdome, and water was pushing against its exterior door. Meanwhile, flooding continued to worsen in New Orleans. However, not a single one of those reports was "verified or substantiated. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The skies darkened, and the wind started to pick up. Twenty-five thousand miserable people - many of whom lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina - hunkered down with little food and little water, overflowing toilets, stifling heat and the. This was it. Apart from the foster children, roughly 5,000 additional children were listed as missing in the Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina. [46] Before that first game, the team announced it had sold out its entire home schedule to season ticket holders a first in the franchise's history.[47]. About850 patients with serious medical conditions some in hospice care would arrive to ride out the storm there; most of them from parts of the city not protected by the levee system. In fact, the first hurricane-related deaths occurred the day before Katrina struck when three residents died whilst being evacuated to Baton Rouge. The smell of the air became humid, tropical. He made two requests: Hed need a large contingent of National Guardsmen, and a few hours Sunday morning to prepare. After levees and flood walls protecting New Orleans failed, much of the city was underwater. That night a National Guardsmangot jumped as he walked through a dark, flooded locker room. [32] While numerous people told the Times-Picayune that they had witnessed the rape of two girls in the ladies' restroom and the killing of one of them, police and military officials said they knew nothing about the incidents. No electricity in New Orleans meant no air conditioning in the dome, filling it with a horrible, muggy heat. WATCH: Cities of the Underworld: Hurricane Katrina on HISTORY Vault. 23 Most of these pieces show the Superdome's population rising by at least 10,000, swelling to as many 25,000. They found the building in better shape than the Superdome fewer windows were blown out and the building, unlike the Superdome, had a roof. Hurricane Katrina survivors arrive at the Houston Astrodome Red Cross Shelter after being evacuated from New Orleans. 2. The air smelled toxic. You need to go take a look. The total damage from Katrina is estimated to be $125 billion (or $190 billion in 2022 dollars), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). by Laura Butterbaugh Thanks to the Internet, the images of the victims of Hurricane Katrina were as vivid as they were shocking: A hysterical woman pleading to TV cameras that women and girls were being raped in the Superdome. And I expect they will.". Tulane University postponed its scheduled football game against the University of Southern Mississippi until November 26. Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. Daylight could be seen from inside the dome, and rain was pouring in. Nearly half the fatalities in Louisiana were people over the age of 74. The majority of all federal aid, approximately $75 billion of $120.5 billion, funded emergency relief operations. [49][50] Grambling State University beat Southern University, 5035.[51]. It was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Duette Sims stands in the heavily damaged Christian Community Baptist Church in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward on August 28, 2007. [19][20] The refugees were given three meals and snacks daily, along with hygiene supplies, and were allowed to use the locker rooms to shower. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Hurricane Katrina was a devastating Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that resulted in 1,392 fatalities and caused damage estimated between $97.4 billion to $145.5 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding areas. Returning to Washington from Texas, Air Force One descended to about 5,000 feet to allow Bush to view some of the worst damage from Hurricane Katrina. [14] With no power or clean water supply, sanitary conditions within the Superdome had rapidly deteriorated. But after the levees broke, the city buses went underwater. Following the historical damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina, the name Katrina was retired from the lists of names. In New Orleans, the evacuation plan reportedly "fell apart even before the storm hit." The population of New Orleans fell from 484,674 in April 2000 to 230,172 in July 2006, a decrease of over 50%. Ive been through a lot of hurricanes. The 2005 New Orleans Bowl between the University of Southern Mississippi and Arkansas State University was moved from the Superdome to Cajun Field in Lafayette. All Rights Reserved. It's also believed that many of these deaths could have been preventable if emergency and hospital services hadn't been as disrupted as they were. No one had a better plan, so they agreed to go with Moutons recommendation. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Fights broke out. "[3], The Superdome was built to withstand most natural catastrophes. At St. Rita's Nursing Home, residents were reportedly abandoned by the staff, and 35 people drowned as a result. FEMA reached out that morning: It was sending 400 buses to begin an evacuation. Huge crowds of seething and tense people jammed the main concourse outside the dome hoping to get on the buses to the Astrodome in Houston, 350 miles away. That afternoon, Mayor Nagin asked to meet with Thornton and Mouton. As a result, the rumors of lawlessness in New Orleans actually made things much worse for stranded survivors. At 1:30 in the morning, Denise Thornton walked with her group up to the helipad, out in the open air, and there it was. Several hundredof Thorntons part-time employees had shown up as well, unable to evacuate, and hed placed them in one of the club lounges along with the families of some New Orleans Police Department officers. A FEMA employee told Thornton and Mouton they expected to find lots of dead bodies, and had decided to bring them here, right next to the place where those left in the city were fighting to live. They were acquitted in 2007. For the remainder of that night, it was just Doug Thornton and a few remaining members of his management and security teams. Four died of natural causes, one had a drug overdose, and one committed suicide. At 5 a.m. on August 29, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which administered the levees, received a report that water had broken through the concrete flood wall between the 17th Street Canal and the city. The owners, Salvador and Mabel Mangano, ended up facing the only criminal charges directly related to Hurricane Katrina, as they were charged with negligent homicide due to their refusal to evacuate their residents. [7] According to many, the smell inside the stadium was revolting due to the breakdown of the plumbing system, which included all toilets and urinals in the building, forcing people to urinate and defecate in other areas such as garbage cans and sinks. Up to a month after Hurricane Katrina, over 100 children were still unaccounted for, and it took until November to find everyone. Widespread criticism of the federal response to Katrina led to the resignation of Michael D. Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and did lasting damage to the reputation of President Bush, who was nearing the end of a month-long vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas when Katrina struck. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Because of the ensuing. We can't house people for five or six days. Hurricane Katrina had intruded on the last safe place. We will investigate if the individuals come forward. The bad news is its going to take us several days to pump the water out of the city even if they can stop the water flow from coming in, Thornton recalls Nagin saying. And with everyone scattered, it became incredibly difficult to reunite children with their birth parents. A neighborhood east of downtown New Orleans remains flooded on August 30, 2005. At noon, he boarded a helicopter. A FEMA medical team at the Superdome on August 31, 2005. And we look up and see a metal beam, a massive beam, that had been windblown into the aluminum siding. It would be impossible to drive there with the roads in their current state, so Mouton called inBlackhawk helicopters to get them. If we let everybody go into the parking garage then were going to lose control of the situation and it could be worse. Weve been here since 6 a.m., and this is getting worse and worse, State Police Officer K.W. The National Guard had pulled back from many parts of the building. You better move back. - Numerous failures of levees around New Orleans led to catastrophic flooding in the city. Just looking out I saw glare of the water, she said, choking up. [44] The San Antonio Express-News reported that sources close to the Saints' organization said that Benson planned to void his lease agreement with New Orleans by declaring the Superdome unusable. [13][35] The attacker was later jailed. The 2005 hurricane and subsequent levee failures led to death and destructionand dealt a lasting blow to leadership and the Gulf region. They knew what that meant: The Superdome was now running on its backup generator, which could power the lights but not much more. In the bathrooms, every toilet had ceased to function. Meanwhile, foster families struggled with making sure that their children had their medication. Then the male employees, and, finally, the men who worked security would be the last to leave. They drove four hours from Bossier City where Doug, an executive with SMG, managed a facility back to New Orleans, a lone car on the inbound side of the highway as thousands upon thousands of cars sat in traffic on the outbound lanes. By 2021, the estimated population had increased to 376,971, according to the Census. The dome's emergency generator was able to power the internal lighting but little else; the building's air conditioning system would no longer operate, nor would the refrigeration system which was keeping food from spoiling. We wont be able to feed these folks. 2023 Cable News Network. Two men paddle through the streets past the Claiborne Bridge in New Orleans on August 31, 2005. [6] By this time, the population of the dome had nearly doubled within two days to approximately 30,000, as helicopters and vehicles capable of cutting through the deep flood waters picked up stranded citizens from hard-hit areas and brought them to the dome. The Blackhawks had landed on the top parking level of the Superdome, and then the sandbags were driven down to the back door by the generator room. With maximum sustained winds of 175 mph, the storm killed a total of 1,833 people and left millions homeless in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. WATCH:I Was There: Hurricane Katrina: Rescue Swimmer. Governor Blanco's comment regarding M-16s was likely in response to the reports of snipers shooting at police and rescue workers. This place wont be here in six days.. A school bus drops off a student in front of the Claiborne Bridge on May 12, 2015. Emergency lights worked intermittently as engineers struggled to keep backup generators running as the area around the dome flooded. Hurricane Katrina not only left more than 1,800 human deaths in its wake, it also rendered thousands homeless as more than 800,000 housing units were destroyed or damaged in the storm. WATCH:I Was There: Hurricane Katrina Superdome Survivor. People had broken up into factions by race, separating into small groups throughout the building that the National Guard struggled to control. It is 250 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Thousands of displaced residents take cover from Hurricane Katrina at the Superdome in New . They had to find out if they could move these people. We had to chase him down, said Sgt. Back in 2005, Nagin went on the Today Show and said, "it wouldn't be unreasonable to have 10,000" deaths from Hurricane Katrina. By 7 p.m. everyone was inside and had been checked. The guardsmans gun went off during the confrontation. After Hurricane Katrina struck, numerous federal officials, including President George W. Bush, claimed that there was little that could have been done to prevent the disaster. This is ready to break. Twenty-five thousand miserable people many of whom lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina hunkered down with little food and little water, overflowing toilets, stifling heat and the unbearable stench of human waste.