Is Hurricane Gustav going to be as totally devestating to New Orleans as Katrina?

Question

I've never been to New Orleans and don't know anyone who lives there or has relatives there. But i feel really awful sitting in my safe little flat, seeing the news of what is approaching them only 3 years after Katrina, so i cant imagine how awful those poor people who are going through it are feeling. I know this time they have had days to evacuate rather than hours, so hopefully the loss of life will be less, but what about their homes and businessess?

Those poor people are just so unlucky, i hope they don't lose everything again.

Answer 1

its a bigger storm so it should be worse, depends on what improvements were made to the storm defenses after katrina though...

Answer 2

Katrina was a category 5...Gustav is a category 2 when it makes it to land so its not as strong as katrina...however the reason why they're is so much news coverage on the hurricane is because when katrina came around the republicans didn't do anything and there wasn't a lot of coverage until after katrina.... I do hope and pray everything will ok in new orleans thats where i was born..

Answer 3

The hurricane Katrina did not cause the problem it was the fact that the wall or levee protecting New Orleans from Lake Portchartrain was breached and the city itself was not equipped to deal with all the excess water.

If the levee has been rebuilt or made bigger and stronger then the hurricane will not be a problem, but I think it was only a stop gap job and not a permanent solution.Up to the authorities to spend the money needed to make the city safe permanently

New Orleans has a long history of flooding

Answer 4

yeah probably those people are so screwed this is y i dont go 2 church:..(

Answer 5

I think that they are much more prepared this time. After the devastation that Katrina caused at least they know what to expect. I'm sure that all the homes and businesses have excellent protection against hurricanes now. Hopefully Gustav will not be too devastating.  

Answer 6

i don,t think its going to be as big as katrina although it will be a bad one sweetheart x*x

Answer 7

Katrina did not do very much damage to New Orleans at all.  It was the storm surge that flooded part of the city, because the levees were in a poor state of repair.  It was the Mississippi Gulf coast that was devastated by Katrina.  Both the winds and the storm surge brought catastrophic damage to the towns and cities in that area.

Gustav Is not as big a storm, or as intense, and has not gained any strength whilst crossing the gulf.  It is still a category 3, but looks like it may be a category 2 by the time it makes landfall.  But it could still create quite a big storm surge, so the authorites are taking no risks.  Hence the evacuation of New Orleans.

My prayers are with all the folk down there.  And the folk who may be affected by Tropical Storm Hanna waiting off the eastern coast of Florida.  Heres hoping she does not strengthen as she makes her way up the eastern seaboard.

Answer 8

It depends on the levees holding up (as thats what caused katrinas damage), but the lack of support from W and FEMA was what really caused the problems.  

Answer 9

I live an hour outside of New Orleans and Gustav is not going to be as bad as it looked at first.

Katrina didn't really hurt New Orleans all that much. Seriously! It was the levee failures that had such a devastating effect. And that was AFTER Katrina had already passed on. I've seen all sorts of nasty comments on Yahoo Answers by people saying that New Orleans shouldn't be rebuilt. Frankly, people like that don't understand what happened. What happened to New Orleans is the Army Corps of Engineers' fault, since they erected a levee system to begin with, then failed to maintain it properly. The New Orleans people aren't responsible for that at all.

I don't think there will be such severe destruction this time around as with Katrina, plus the new governor here is on top of things and doing his job, keeping things organized, and looking out for the citizens, unlike his predecessor.

[Katrina was NOT a category 5 hurricane as some here have claimed. It was a category 4 for awhile when it was still out in the Gulf, but only a category 3 when it made landfall.

Right now Gustav is a category 3 and has not been a category 2 for over 24 hours. <<<<<< FACTUAL (Let's at least try to deal in facts, wherever possible.)]

Answer 10

no but good question gustav is category 3 and Katrina was a horrific category 5

gustav will still be bad though

Answer 11

dont worry, gustav will run out of gas before it even hits New Orleans.

Its already a Cat 3