Katrina's Lessons May Have Saved Lives in Isaac
Holbrook MohrUpdated: Sep 1, 2012, 2:24 PM EDTAssociated Press
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
This aerial photo taken Thursday, Aug. 30, shows the pumping station at the 17th Street Canal, built after Hurricane Katrina breached the wall and flooded New Orleans. Isaac soaked Louisiana for yet another day and pushed more water into neighborhoods all around the city, flooding homes and forcing last-minute evacuations and rescues. New Orleans itself was spared, thanks in large part to a levee system built after Katrina.
Officials took lessons from Katrina and applied them to their emergency plans. Storm shelters that can house tens of thousands of people have been built across Mississippi, communication systems have been upgraded and there are more stringent building codes.
But more than anything, Katrina taught people just how bad a hurricane can be.
"I think the public now as a whole is much more aware of what can happen," said Donald Langham, emergency operations director for coastal Jackson County.
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"Before, people wouldn't leave home for a tropical storm," Langham said.
Obviously, Isaac was no Katrina, but Isaac did dump more than a foot of rain in some places in Mississippi. It flooded neighborhoods and whipped parts of the state with a sustained wind of about 40 mph, with even stronger gusts. There was a storm surge of 6 to 8 feet, according to the National Weather Service.
Isaac was blamed for two deaths in Mississippi, both from falling trees. A tow truck driver was killed in Picayune and a woman was killed in the small town of Lexington, north of Jackson.
Katrina killed more than 200 people and caused massive destruction across south Mississippi.
(MORE: Drought Hits Miss. River Shipping, Even After Isaac)
Isaac flooded dozens of homes in Hancock and Jackson counties and caused other, scattered property damage. But, in a sign of quick recovery, all 12 of the coast casinos were set to reopen by Saturday, in time for the Labor Day weekend.
Long Beach resident Brenda Johns wasn't taking any chances. She lost nearly everything when her house was destroyed by Katrina's massive waves and punishing wind. Those are not the kind of memories that easily fade.
"Katrina showed me just how dangerous a hurricane can be and how quick it can change. I will never take a chance on a hurricane," she said. "That's one thing people can't know. They don't know what a hurricane will do."
The fact that Isaac was raging on near Katrina's seventh anniversary helped punctuate the warnings officials made.
Gov. Phil Bryant and other officials held a news conference several days before Isaac was projected to hit land and invoked Katrina several times to highlight the unpredictable nature of tropical weather and the challenges of mass evacuations.
(MORE: Isaac's Impact in Photos)
After Isaac, Bryant said the state spent seven years since Katrina improving plans and strengthening buildings on the coast and requiring people to build higher off the ground in some areas. Bryant also said he was able to communicate with the leaders of the National Guard and Department of Public Safety from long distances by using a walkie-talkie.
"We have, unfortunately, learned so much about responding to the hurricanes," Bryant said Friday in Jackson. "This was nothing near the level of Katrina but it was a very serious storm and what was gratifying was not only how the coast withstood — its structures, its buildings, its roads, bridges that we have rebuilt over these seven years — but how the teams worked."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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