Recognizing the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Recognizing the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Whereas, on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina inflicted catastrophic damage as a Category 3 hurricane and caused damage exceeding $200,000,000,000 in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, making it one of the costliest storms in the history of the United States;

Whereas Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States, with a recorded 1,822 fatalities, including 1,577 in Louisiana, 238 in Mississippi, 14 in Florida, 2 in Georgia, and 2 in Alabama, according to the National Hurricane Center;

Whereas Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge, which exceeded 20 feet in some places, caused 53 breaches in the levee system of New Orleans, and the levee failure resulted in the flooding of 80 percent of the city;

Whereas, more than 1,200,000 individuals were under some type of evacuation order, including the first mandatory evacuation in the history of New Orleans;

Whereas non-emergency medical employees sheltered in place at hospitals to provide care and help move patients to higher ground;

Whereas tens of thousands of homes and businesses from Louisiana to Florida were destroyed by the flooding;

Whereas 3,000,000 individuals were left without electricity for weeks;

Whereas major highways were destroyed, including the Interstate 10 Twin Span Bridge connecting the cities of New Orleans and Slidell in Louisiana;

Whereas the Louisiana Superdome sheltered 26,000 evacuees and suffered roof leaks and other significant damage from strong winds;

Whereas Hurricane Katrina affected every part of Louisiana, and thousands of survivors sheltered in the Baton Rouge River Center, the Bossier City Civic Center, and the Monroe Civic Center, and additionally, many evacuees sheltered with friends and family;

Whereas, following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, medical residents and faculty, as well as grassroots organizations, quickly mobilized to provide immediate health care services to hurricane evacuees;

Whereas neighboring cities and States took in thousands of displaced residents and provided medical care and shelter at make-shift hospitals, such as the Katrina Clinic at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas;

Whereas the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army, America’s Second Harvest (now known as Feeding America), Emergency Communities, Catholic Charities, Pastors Resource Council Compassion, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, and other charitable organizations provided crucial food, water, and hygiene products to victims;

Whereas, more than 70 countries and international organizations pledged monetary donations in excess of $854,000,000;

Whereas improved levees are an essential aspect of providing Category 5-equivalent hurricane protection;

Whereas, in 2009, the Army Corps of Engineers delivered a plan for providing coastal Louisiana with Category 5-equivalent hurricane protection;

Whereas, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, more than $15,000,000,000 was invested into Louisiana’s levee system, and the Army Corps of Engineers constructed stronger levees by replacing failed I-Wall design floodwalls with stronger T-wall or L-wall design floodwalls and reinforced the most vulnerable undamaged I-Walls and surge protection closures;

Whereas the investment in Louisiana’s levees paid off, and Louisiana’s levees have held through multiple storms since their improvement following Hurricane Katrina;

Whereas Louisiana has improved evacuation routes, hardened its electric grid, and secured coastal resiliency grants and flood mitigation assistance grants to be better prepared for the next major hurricane;

Whereas enhancing flood mitigation measures and ensuring the affordability of flood insurance will strengthen the resiliency of vulnerable communities and the broader Gulf Coast region, in particular; and

Whereas the resiliency of the residents of New Orleans and the people of Louisiana allowed their culture, heritage, and identity to endure: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate—

(1) commemorates the victims of Hurricane Katrina;

(2) commends the courageous efforts of those who assisted in the recovery efforts;

(3) recognizes the contributions of the communities in Louisiana and across the United States for providing shelter and assistance to survivors; and

(4) reaffirms its commitment to protecting the Gulf Coast region from future storms.