Bloated Bodies: The Political Economy of Hurricane Katrina Recovery

Abstract

On the morning of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the United States, hitting the coast of Louisiana with wind speeds of 125 miles per hour near Buras-Triumph.1 It was not the strongest of storms in terms of wind speeds, central pressures, or intensity — it was only a Category 3 hurricane — but its particular location along the Gulf Coast, and its abundant amount of rainfall and storm surge made it “the most devastating and costly hurricane in US history.”2 At least 1,800 people died in the hurricane and its subsequent floods, and total cleanup and repair costs have been estimated at $80 billion to $400 billion.3 Although the storm's wrath was felt from central Florida to Southern Texas, most of the damage occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana, after its levee system failed and about 80 percent of the city was flooded with stagnant water for many weeks.4 That catastrophe was so stark that one expert has called it “the worst civil engineering disaster” in American history.5