Rough Draft For Compare and Contrast Essay

Tommy Chalk

Dr.  Kerr

English 101 #5

Oct. 27, 2010

The Effects of Hurricane Katrina

            The most memorable storms are always hurricanes.  They are massive storm systems that last for days.  On August 23, 2005, Hurricane Katrina formed and went on a war path.  Katrina caused a devastating amount of destruction, costing the United States 90.3 billion dollars (Blake).  This makes Katrina the costliest hurricane in history.  Katrina swept the area of the United States around the Gulf of Mexico, effecting Southern Florida, The Florida Panhandle, Mississippi, Alabama, and most notably Louisiana.  The category five storm effected levees and structures, our economics, and human life in general.

            About eighty percent of New Orleans was flooded during the storm (Spotts).  This was mainly due to the destruction of the federally built levee system.  The city of New Orleans is actually below sea level, meaning water could easily flood in if it is available.  The Federal government decided to build a massive levee system, nearly 350 miles of protection, which could only withstand about a category 3 hurricane (Handwerk).  The levees were doomed from the very beginning of this storm.  As the storm swept through the city, many small buildings were flattened to the ground, and larger buildings sustained heavy damage, most notably the Hyatt Regency New Orleans building and the Superdome.  On August 29, it was reported that the Hyatt Regency building had its front windows completely blown out, and high rises in the surrounding area had received structural damage as well (Lathom).  The Superdome was used to hold evacuees during the storm, and took significant damage to the roof.  The roof overall received damage, and the waterproof cover of the dome was essentially peeled off, as which caused leaking (Gibson).  The Superdome also lost electricity and didn’t have a functioning toilet (Gibson).

            Hurricane Katrina was the most costly natural disasters in U.S. history.  Katrina was responsible for damaging or completely destroying thirty oil platforms, which caused nine different oil refineries to shut down (US Department of Commerce).  This shut down reduced the annual money intake by 24%  and 18% for gas production (MMS Press Release).  In Mississippi, 1.3 million acres of forest were destroyed, costing the forest industry roughly 5 billion dollars (Sheikh).  Thousands of jobs were lost, and it is estimated that Katrina will ultimately cost Louisiana and Mississippi 150 billion dollars (Burton).  Thousands of people became unemployed, which ultimately effects the government and the entire nation due to the fact that those thousands of unemployed people are no longer paying taxes.

            Hurricane Katrina drastically changed the lives of everyone involved.  Roughly 1,500 people were killed by the hurricane (“Fast Facts about the Aftermath:  Personal Impact”).  A massive exodus of people was a result of Katrina.  Over one million people left the Gulf Coast area to find another way of life.  By 2006, about 220,000 people were living in New Orleans, less than half of the pre-Katrina population (Stone).  The state of Louisiana declined by 4.87 % in population (Les).  Residents that remained in Louisiana began to loot.  Thousands of National Guard members were sent to try to maintain order.  About 300,000 were evacuated to the state of Texas, and the number of homicides in Houston increased by 243%, and 29 of the 170 murders involved evacuees both as victims and suspects (Kennet).  Homelessness greatly increased, over 204,000 homes in New Orleans alone were destroyed (“Fast Facts about the Aftermath:  Personal Impact”).

            Relief efforts for Katrina are still being carried out.  Families still no longer have been able to build a home, even after all these years.  This was a biblical hurricane that caused so much damage mainly due to human error.  Due to the extreme devastation and loss of life, the name “Katrina” was officially retired.  Katrina had a major impact on our national society, and ultimately effected structures within the hurricane path to fail, caused major impact on the effected states economy, as well as the national economy, and changed many of the populations way of life.

Works Cited

Blake, Eric S., Edward N. Rappaport, and Christopher W. Landsea. "The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Tropical Cyclones From 1851 To 2006 (And Other Frequently Requested Hurricane Facts)." NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS TPC-5. NHC Miami, Apr. 2007. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. <http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-TPC-5.pdf>.

Burton, Mark L., and Michael J. Hicks. "Hurricane Katrina: Preliminary Estimates of Commercial and Public Sector Damages." Marshall University Center For Business and Economic Research. Sept. 2005. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. <http://www.marshall.edu/cber/research/katrina/Katrina-Estimates.pd

Christie, Les. "Fast-growing States: Arizona Overtakes Nevada - Dec. 22, 2006." Business, Financial, Personal Finance News - CNNMoney.com. CNN, 22 Dec. 2006. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. <http://money.cnn.com/2006/12/22/real_estate/fastest_growing_states/index.htm?postversion=2006122209>.

"Fast Facts about the Aftermath: Personal Impact." Women of the Storm. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.womenofthestorm.net/facts.php>.       

Gibson, Christine. "Our 10 Greatest Natural Disasters." American Heritage. Aug.-Sept. 2006. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. <http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2006/4/2006_4_26.shtml>.

Handwerk, Brian. "New Orleans Levees Not Built for Worst Case Events." Daily Nature and Science News and Headlines | National Geographic News. National Geographic, 2 Sept. 2005. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0902_050902_katrina_levees_2.html>.

Kennett, Jim. "Louisiana Gangs That Fled Katrina Heighten Houston Murder Rate - Bloomberg." Bloomberg - Business & Financial News, Breaking News Headlines. 3 Mar. 2006. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=az6n8C6gsqf0>.  

Lathom, Robert. "Online News Hour: Hurricane Katrina Sweeps Across Gulf Coast -- August 29, 2005." Interview by Jim Lehrer, Jeffery Brown, and Peter Whoriskey. PBS. PBS, 29 Aug. 2005. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/weather/july-dec05/katrina_8-29.html>.

"MMS Press Release." Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement HomePage. 22 Feb. 2006. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/press/2006/press0222.htm>.        

Spotts, Peter N. "Why New Orleans Levees Failed / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com." The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com. 3 Nov. 2005. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1103/p02s02-ussc.html>.

Stone, Greg, Tim Grant, and Nathaniel Weaver. Rapid Population Estimate Project. City Of New Orleans. 28-29 Jan. 2006. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. <http://katrina.lsu.edu/downloads/research/NOLAPopEstimate.pdf>.

United States. Department Of Commerce. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). By David L. Johnson. June 2006. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. <http://www.weather.gov/om/assessments/pdfs/Katrina.pdf>.

           

Questions About Hurricane Katrina for Cause and Effect

1. What Causes a hurricane?
2. What are the parts of a hurricane?
3. Where did Katrina form?
4. What was the path of Katrina?
5. How strong was Katrina?
6. What category was Katrina?
7. How much damage did Katrina cause?
8. How long was Katrina active?
9. What were the main areas effected by Katrina?
10. How many people died during Katrina?

Revised Compare and Contrast Paper

Soccer Versus Hockey

            Until the day he died, Bob Marley always enjoyed two things in life, music and soccer.  In fact, soccer is an important part life for the majority of the world.  According to Fifa (Federation International Football Association), 700 million people worldwide watched the World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain on television (Dunbar).  Soccer, called “futball” outside of the United States, is a game of skilled, majestic play.  Another sport popular to the world is hockey.  Hockey is a game full of speed and power, with magic goals and bone crushing hits, and, of course, the occasional fight.  Played on ice, it is one of the more challenging sports to get grasp.  Compared side-by-side, two sports offer similar, yet different, aspects of sport.  One is more tactical and meticulous, the other aggressive and gritty.  But, one thing everyone can agree on, they are two of the most popular sports in the world.

            Soccer and hockey are similar based on the fact that both are extremely popular.  As stated earlier, 700 million people world wide watched the Fifa world cup final.  The most popular hockey game of late, the United States versus Canada gold medal final in the Vancouver Olympics, was watched by 114 million people around the world (Podnieks).  The basic rules of the game are similar as well. The object of both games is to put the puck/ball in the net the most.  The penalty system is similar as well, punishing players more severely for more serious infractions.  Both even have similar penalties, such as an offside call and tripping.  Both use a goalie, and have similar attacking and defending styles.  Also, the overtime system is alike.  When teams are tied at regulation, both sports have them continue playing for a set time.  If the game remains tied, then a penalty shootout takes place.

            As similar as the two sports seem, there are surprisingly many differences.  There are obvious differences in the playing surface and equipment, but it goes much more beyond that.  Soccer is an extremely diverse sport, with just about every single country supporting soccer.  It is extremely popular in the Latino based countries, with some of the best nations and players of soccer come from.  Brazil has forever planted itself as the legendary soccer nation, where players develop their skill individually and later learn team play.  This is where the creative aspect of the game is developed.  Hockey, on the other hand, is not very diverse.  Hockey is in large part played by predominately white nations.  To put this in perspective, there are only eighteen African American players played in the NHL between 1958 and 1991 (Morrison) and only a handful of latinos and asians.  This is due to the fact that those nations are warm, and hockey is played on ice.  Obviously, hockey is dominated by Canada, the United States, Russia, Czech Republic, and Sweden.  All of these countries are similar through their colder temperatures.  Another interesting fact is that those nations don’t tend to field world class soccer players

            Another difference, which again can go along with the region at which the sport is played, is the expense of each sport.  Hockey is an expensive sport, where many different types of pads are required to play.  Skates alone can cost you four hundred dollars if you want the best.  A solid stick can also be costly.  On top of that, the sticks break, meaning you would need two or three at a time.  Ice time would also have to be scheduled, and can be very costly.  Soccer, on the other hand, can be played with ease.  Any open space could do, and for the most part, there aren’t any pads. Shin guards are all you need, but most players don’t wear them.  A ball can last years, and nets can be made with trash cans.  The better players of the world tend to come from the streets, where they learn their raw skills.  Soccer is really the only sport available to the underdeveloped nations.

            Soccer and hockey share similar qualities in the object of the game, yet the type of player is different.  It is interesting that two sports with the same basic concept can differ so much.  Soccer is the classy, beautiful game that the entire world loves.  Hockey is the blue-collar, gritty sport that the world loves, which again is interesting due to the types of players that play that sport.  They are similar, yet different.     

Works Cited

Dunbar, Graham.  Fifa Expects 700 Million to Watch World Cup Title.  11 Jul. 2010.  2 Oct. 2010 http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/11/fifa-expects-700-million-watch-world-cup-final.html.

Morrison, Michael, and Chris Frantz. "African American Hockey Players in the NHL: History & List of Players — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com. 2007. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmhockey1.html

Podnieks, Andrew. "FROM CANADA TO ITALY TO BRAZIL, THE 2010 OLYMPICS MADE NHL PLAYERS MORE GLOBALLY FAMOUS THAN EVER BEFORE." Canadian World Hockey Summit. 25 Aug. 2010. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. http://www.worldhockeysummit.com/index.php/ci_id/141231/la_id/1.htm

Hurricane Katrina

I'm doing my cause and effect paper on what exactly caused Hurricane Katrina, and I will look in depth as to why it was so powerful and damaging compared to past hurricanes

New Compare and Contrast Paper

I'm not comparing eagles to hawks anymore.  I'm comparing two sports, one that Bob Marley liked and one that I have always liked, soccer to hockey