ZH: Infer the Topic

Work together with your partner. Take turns reading aloud the caption or excerpt for each resource. Add a jot to your notes for each resource.

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​Wait for your partner

In this photo Jackson took late Monday morning on Aug. 29, 2005, girls wait for help atop an entry door at their home in the lower 9th ward.

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​Resource #1

Putrid waters inundated Broad Street, as seen from the Broad Street Overpass, Sept. 12, 2005.

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​Resource #2

Resource #3

​Monday, August 29th, 2005:  6:50 a.m.

The system of levees that protect New Orleans from storm surges are breached, swept away like sand castles at the beach. The pumps fail. The Great Flood begins. 

Katrina's track across the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

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​Resource #4

Resource #5

Interesting Facts pg. 176

“The word Creole originally referred to descendants of the French and Spanish settlers. It can also refer to people of mixed race whose ancestors were raised in the complex, racially divided culture of New Orleans.”

Resource #6

 from “Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietics”

The purpose of this study was to determine the nutritional implications Hurricane Katrina had on residents in six counties of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.The results indicated the level of food insecurity following Hurricane Katrina increased from 15% to 82.5%.

Resource #7

 from “Feeding America”

For those of us working at the food bank, it is hard to describe what transpired over the next weeks and months. We came in early and worked late. Weekends became weekdays. Our commutes to work increased by hours. Gasoline stations, groceries, convenience and home improvement stores were either empty or rationing what they had.

Water surrounds homes just east of downtown New Orleans the day after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005.

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​Resource #8

Cars sit in traffic as people flee New Orleans on August 28, 2005. The next day, Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with winds near 127 mph.

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​Resource #9

Resource #10

from Interesting Facts pg. 178

“The Superdome was designated as a ‘shelter of last resort’. City officials were quoted as saying they “didn’t want to make it too comfortable” because that would encourage people to stay behind rather than evacuate, which was safer. As a result, there was not enough food, water, supplies, or emergency medical care for those who sought refuge during and after the storm.”

Resource #11

from Interesting Facts pg. 179

“Before Katrina, 453,728 people lived in the city of New Orleans. A year later the population had declined by more than two hundred thousand, most of whom left the city because homes or jobs (or both) had been destroyed. According to the Times-Picayune it was the biggest mass migration in modern American history.”

National Guard trucks haul displaced New Orleans residents to the Superdome a day after the hurricane flooded their neighborhoods. About 25,000 evacuees were sheltered at the stadium.

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​Resource #12

Resource #13

from Interesting Facts pg. 178

“...it is the stated business of the United States Coast Guard to go in harm’s way. In the hours and days following the flood the USCG saved 24,135 people from imminent danger by helicopter rescue and by boat, and evacuated 9,409 patients from inundated hospitals. It is indisputable that, were it not for their skill and courage, the death toll would have been much, much higher.” 

Resource #14

 from “America’s Navy”

Category Five Hurricane:

Winds greater than 155 mph. Damage as above plus complete failure of roofs on many residential and industrial buildings. Extensive shattering of window and door glass. Many complete building failures and small buildings overturned or blown away. Storm Surge greater than 18' above normal tidal levels. Low lying escape routes inland cut by rising water 12 to 13 hours before hurricane center arrival. Massive evacuation of residential areas on low grounds within 5 to 10 miles of shore possibly required.

Resource #15

 from “The Storm that Changed Disaster Policy Forever”

When Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast on Aug. 23, 2005, it caused more than 1,800 deaths and $125 billion in damage.

It also altered the course of state and federal disaster policy forever.

A decades’ long focus on response and recovery through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other agencies began to give way to one on mitigation. In Katrina’s aftermath, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invested $14.5 billion in one of the largest public works projects in history to enhance infrastructure, reduce flooding and provide protection from future storms in New Orleans and surrounding areas.

Multiple Select

Which of the following can you infer about Hurricane Katrina? Select any that apply.

• It was a fierce storm.

• New Orleans is a better city after the storm.

• The city was unprepared for the storm and its damages.

• Not much has been reported or learned about the storm.

Use complete sentences to answer the question at the end of your note-catcher. Go back to the resources as need to "cite" evidence.

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