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The 2000's
Natural Disasters
 Hurricane Katrina, August 2005

Hurricane Katrina, August 2005
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 7 to 9
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   7.65

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    seaside, low-lying, footage, unclaimed, magnitude, destruction, estimate, landfall, levees, billion, makeshift, heading, personally, power, affected, nation
     content words:    Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, National Hurricane Director, President Bush, Ray Nagin, New Orleans Convention Center, Bernard Parish, In South Diamondhead, Lake Pontchartrain, By Monday

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Hurricane Katrina, August 2005
By Joyce Furstenau 		  
1     Topping the ten worst disasters of the last hundred years is Hurricane Katrina. Many of the areas hit have yet to recover from its effects. Hurricane Katrina was the sixth strongest hurricane in history. It affected 90,000 square miles in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama.
 
2     The hurricane formed over the Bahamas and turned into a Category 1 hurricane by the time it hit Florida. It got stronger as it traveled across the Gulf of Mexico. It made its second landfall off the coast of southeast Louisiana on Monday, August 29, 2005. It had become a category 4 hurricane by then. The storm surge that followed caused destruction from central Florida to Texas. New Orleans, Louisiana experienced the worst damage.
 
3     The weather service warned people of the tropical monster that was heading towards New Orleans. Residents were told to expect power outages. They were told they might lose their rooftops and to expect water shortages. The National Hurricane Director was very concerned. He personally called the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi. He even called President Bush at his ranch in Texas. He spoke directly with New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin. Nagin issued an evacuation order for his city. Most people left. About eighty percent of the population evacuated. The estimate was that around 100,000 people remained. Some were stranded tourists; others did not own a car and had no way out. Those who were not able to leave were instructed to go to the New Orleans Convention Center and the Superdome.

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