The devastation of Hurricane Katrina was beyond belief, and might be the worst natural disaster in US history. Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, and other severe storms have impacted more than 2.2 billion people in the past 10 years. This is a very large increase from the previous ten years, and it will increase in the forseeable future. It is isn’t that there are more hurricanes or earthquakes, it is that people have continued to populate high risk areas, and in many cases, not take the precautions that might lessen the effect of these natural events. For example, in the case of the flooding of New Orleans, the THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Newspaper wrote a five-part series on the effect of a hurricane on New Orleans in 2002. It was a clear warning of what would happen to New Orleans in the event of a category 4 or 5 hurricane. The response of federal and state agencies has been considered by many as “unacceptable” and has led to a great deal of criticism.
I have developed a citizen resource (in the form of a webquest) that is designed to educate and inform people about Hurricane Katrina. Teachers should find the resource valuable for upper elementary, middle and high school students.