On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States. With winds of up to 175 miles per hour and more than 1,800 deaths in Louisiana alone, the Category 5 hurricane is considered one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the United States. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Hurricane Katrina had a huge impact on New Orleans. The hurricane left 80 percent of New Orleans underwater. The city would not have remained under water if the levees had not broken. Levees built after Hurricane Betsy, another hurricane that caused extensive damage to the city of New Orleans, the city required levees to be built around the coast. Unfortunately, the embankments were very poorly constructed. The levees were said to be constructed of sand and other materials that would corrode easily. This is said to be one of the greatest engineering disasters in history. Although there was a mandatory evacuation before the storm actually hit, not everyone was able to leave. Disabled, elderly and poor people without transportation were left in the city. Most were taken to the Louisiana Superdome, but others refused to leave their homes. After watching the documentary When the Levees Broke, I think the government is to blame for the lack of response after Katrina. The citizens of New Orleans were not allowed to leave the city and were left without electricity, clean water, and even cell phone service. Many people were unable to survive these conditions and ended up dying. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco ordered a mandatory evacuation that she hoped would last only two days. However, it took many days to evacuate the thousands of people in the city. The government didn't try hard enough or didn't care enough to ensure everyone in the city was safe and to evacuate everyone on time. They should have sent a lot more people to help and things would have been done much faster. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The economy of New Orleans went way downhill after the hurricane. Even today, eleven years later, New Orleans is still not 100% back to normal. With the help of many humanitarian organizations and tourist attractions like Mardi Gras, the city is still on the way back to its pre-Katrina economy.