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Essay / Hurricane Katrina as Environmental Injustice
On August 25, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated communities along the United States Gulf Coast. Katrina hit New Orleans hardest and left neighborhood streets underwater. Katrina is also one of the costliest tropical storms to hit the United States, with total punitive damages reaching more than $125 billion from rising floodwaters and destruction of homes. People of color have been hardest hit due to racial inequality and being forced to live in cheaper neighborhoods that are more vulnerable to flooding. The government had not planned a safe evacuation procedure, but the affected people still asked the government for help. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayKatrina had destroyed 800,000 homes, leaving thousands homeless and of the tens of thousands saved, 30,000 were were forced to take refuge in Louisiana. super dome while 1836 people lost their lives. According to the U.S. Census, only about 32,000 people have returned, which is only 56 percent of what they were before the Katrina tragedy. Failed disaster planning and failure to maintain levees and dams led to flooding in neighborhoods across the New Orleans area. The breaching of the levees mainly affected the African-American population. Poverty rates were high in the area, causing them to live in unsafe areas that were poorly maintained by the government. Mayor Ray Nagin had ordered the town evacuated, but many refused to leave or were unable to do so for various reasons, such as because they believed the homes they lived in had protection significantly against the disaster or were unable to do so due to lack of security. finance or transport. We saw how residents were abandoned by federal, state and local authorities and more than 1,800 people, mostly of color, lost their lives. Katrina is just another example of how minority groups, especially those of color, are left unprotected when it comes to environmental sustainability. The United States must show some responsibility for improper planning and letting minorities risk their lives in vulnerable environments. Rob Nixon, in his book “Slow violence, Neoliberalism, and Environmental Picaresque” (2011), highlights discrimination against minority communities and the government's failure to maintain infrastructure. and organizing evacuation plans leads to a disadvantage for these minority communities in times of human or natural disaster. He also highlighted the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina and that racial discrimination played "a role in the safety of affected communities." He claims that “negligence in preventing potential harm, such as creating neighborhoods around poorly maintained sea walls, is due to neoliberal ideals.” It defines the wealth gap that allows white, upper-class groups to have greater access to security than those of color. In my opinion, minorities or groups of color for whom we cannot afford housing in wealthy or well-kept neighborhoods face a form of injustice that is both racial and environmental. If proper maintenance of levees and dams as well as appropriate evacuation procedures, protocols and policies were in place, many people would still be..