Why was the damage from Hurricane Katrina so bad?
Two reasons, for starters: First, Katrina hit land as a Category 4 hurricane, the second-strongest type. And second, it scored nearly a direct hit on New Orleans. A close hit from a powerful storm causes terrible damage. An Ohio State scientist named Bill Mitsch, an expert on wetlands and ecological engineering, also points out a third reason. New Orleans, he said, was missing its defensive shields: its coastal wetlands. That is, coastal wetlands — marshes between land and the ocean — normally help protect the land. They slow down hurricanes and make them lose power. But drainage and development have wiped out 1.2 million acres of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands, an area bigger than the state of Rhode Island. Result? Precious little stood between New Orleans and Katrina. Restoring lost coastal wetlands, Mitsch says, is one of the keys to New Orleans’ future. Twig P.S. Twigsters! Learn more here: http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~news/story.php?id=3425. Bill Mitsch is director of Ohio State’s
