Hurricane Katrina caused significant impacts in the southeast United States. The warm ocean waters of over 27°C caused moist air to rise and condense, releasing energy that powered the storm to wind speeds of 125mph, making it a category 3 hurricane. It destroyed 300,000 homes in New Orleans, leaving tens of thousands homeless and forcing evacuation to the poorly provisioned Superdome stadium, where sanitation was poor and illness spread quickly. Businesses were also destroyed, eliminating 230,000 jobs and increasing unemployment and pressure on the economy. Failed flood defenses exacerbated flooding in New Orleans, increasing deaths to 1,800 and further adding to costs.

1. Key idea: You need to develop your ideas in case studies.
Tip! When you write a point in your answer, ask yourself ‘So what?’ and explain what happens
as a result. You will need to use connectives to help you.

2. Name a climatic hazard that you have studied in an MEDC.
Hurricane Katrina, USA.
Describe what caused the hazard and explain the impacts.
Include three developed ideas.
The causes of this hurricane were…………………………………………………..so what?
………………………………………………………….so what?............................................
An economic impact of the hurricane was…………………………………… so what?
...............................................................so what?................................................
An environmental impact of this hurricane was………………………………so what?
...............................................................so what?...........................................
A social impact of this hurricane was ………………………………………………so what?
...............................................................so what?.............................................

3. Name a climatic hazard that you have studied in an MEDC.
Hurricane Katrina, South east USA.
Describe what caused the hazard and explain the impacts.
Include three developed ideas.
The causes of this hurricane were due to the warm ocean water being 27 °C or more So
what? Warm, moist air rises and condenses So what? This released energy making the
storm powerful So what? Wind speeds were approximately 125mph making it a category 3
storm. So what? It began to spin anti-clockwise and it hit the coast of New Orleans.
A social impact of the hurricane included the fact that 300 000 houses were destroyed in
New Orleans. So what? This resulted in tens of thousands of people being made homeless.
So what? This meant that many of the residents were evacuated to the nearby Superdome
stadium. So what? There was a lack of food here and sanitation was poor. So what?
Therefore this led to people becoming ill very quickly.
An economic impact of the hurricane included businesses being destroyed So what? This
meant that 230, 000 jobs were lost. So what? As a result of this there was high
unemployment So what? Furthermore, this led to an increased pressure on the economy.
An environmental impact of the hurricane involved the failure of flood defences that were
supposed to protect New Orleans. So what? This increased the number of people that died
(1800 deaths altogether). So what? As a result, it added to the cost of the damage So what?
This was because flooding remained worse than it should have been.