7/6/2023 0 Comments Hurricane katrina aftermath![]() At the same time, a multidisciplinary team of engineers from state and federal agencies was involved in the restoration and improvement of the levee system. They were assessing infectious and chemical agents and evaluating impacts in other areas subject to gravitational unwatering (i.e., draining of the floodwaters). Public health service and sanitation professionals in New Orleans were evaluating the quality of the floodwaters that were being pumped into Lake Pontchartrain. The environmental issues of concern included the following: Public Health Service, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals/Office of Public Health. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. A multidisciplinary team comprising both state and federal agencies and workers was formed to address these problems, including (but not limited to) the U.S. ![]() This evacuationĮNVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ISSUES IN NEW ORLEANS AND LOUISIANAĪt the time of the workshop, there were still multiple environmental health issues in the area affected by Hurricane Katrina, particularly in New Orleans. In some cases patients were evacuated, one or two at a time, by boat to a helipad where they were transferred to a helicopter that brought them to the airport, from which they were flown to other states. In the initial days following the storm flooding of Hurricane Katrina, the state evacuated approximately 12,000 caregivers and their patients from 25 hospitals. Thus, within two hours of the order to evacuate from the path of Hurricane Rita, every remaining gymnasium and every empty space not in the affected area became a shelter, said Guidry. ![]() ![]() The challenge in responding to Hurricane Rita was that individuals evacuated before Hurricane Katrina to the western part of Louisiana needed to be reevacuated to the eastern and northern parts of the state. While Hurricane Katrina affected primarily the eastern part of Louisiana, Hurricane Rita affected the western part. Available resources were stretched further when Hurricane Rita made landfall in the Gulf Coast a few weeks after Hurricane Katrina. The largest emergency room of 700 beds was established at an assembly center to take care of people from affected areas. While many people chose to stay, others did not have an opportunity to evacuate because of unavailable resources, noted Jimmy Guidry of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.ĭuring the pre- and post-storm evacuation, the state set up special needs shelters for those with medical needs and began triaging approximately 30,000 to 40,000 people. However, approximately 150,000 to 200,000 individuals (accurate numbers were difficult to attain) remained during the storm. ![]() The state of Louisiana evacuated approximately 1.5 million people before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. This was a daunting task that required evacuating the most densely populated area of the state to unaffected regions both within the state and in other states around the country. In the state of Louisiana alone, approximately 1.7 million people were affected by the storm and needed to be evacuated. The affected area of Hurricane Katrina covered three states and approximately 90,000 square miles. Hurricane Katrina: Challenges for the Community ![]()
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