Katrina devastation greater than worst fears

A swathe of devastation across the coast

The United States has been confronted with severe fury of nature since June this year with intervals. Season of tropical storm and hurricane have been sweeping the coasts from Miami , Florida to Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi in the south. It is interesting to note that hurricane and tornado have been associated with the names of women in the United States like Arlene, Camille, Ivan and Katrina.

Of late Hurricane Katrina has violently swept Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama , Miami and Florida from 25 through 31 August at a speed of 125 to 140 miles an hour causing havoc in its trail. Millions of people in Florida, Miami, Mississippi and Louisiana have been made homeless. Most Katrina Hurricane affected victims took shelter in Superdomes in Mississippi and New Orleans, which were again ripped off by the hurricane. About one and a half million people were evacuated from many affected places. Evacuated people in Mississippi and Louisiana remained without drinking waters and electricity for days until situation improved. According to Washington Times, more than three-quarters of a million people were without electricity from Louisiana to Florida and Mississippi and Alabama . Mile after mile of coastline settlements in Mississippi and Alabama were simply wiped out. Debris from flattened buildings littered streets, and smell of natural gas from broken lines wafted through the air.

Levee breaches added misery to the city dwellers of New Orleans in the wake of the hurricane that then headed towards Tennessee and Ohio.

Thousands are feared dead now and damage to properties could accede billion of dollars. There were reports of an unknown number of bodies seen floating in the flood waters in New Orleans and Louisiana. The hurricane was followed by a surge of waters 15 to 20 feet high in many places in New Orleans and Mississippi. As a result, many houses and stores were inundated and many houses collapsed as well. In spite of this severe type of hurricane the death toll is relatively low in comparison to south Asian countries. This is because in the United States the population is also comparatively low and they are better equipped to cope with such disasters. Federal emergency agency is also prepared to tackle the worst situation arising out of natural disasters. Early warning system is very effective which helped eighty percent people to leave their homes for safer places. It is an irony that many looters were seen and caught while the hurricane was sweeping New Orleans and Mississippi. And it is sad that relief took too much time in arriving.

Many oil refineries in Louisiana, Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico were damaged. Assessment of damage has not yet been completed. Oil production dropped by 1.4 million barrels a day. The storm halted barge traffic on the Mississippi going to upriver refineries. The hurricane in fact paralyzed energy production all along the Alabama coast which is known as oil and gas hub of the United States. The hurricane battered offshore oil platforms and pipelines as well. This has resulted in oil price rise. There is a possibility of further rise in oil price unless oil refineries are back to production.

Although late, the Federal government has mobilised a massive emergency assistance programme to rush baby food, communications equipment, generators, water, and ice into hard hit areas. President Bush declared Louisiana and Mississippi as disaster zone and pledged extensive federal assistance for the victims. President Bush is expected to tap into nation's emergency petroleum stockpiles to help refineries affected by the storm.

American Red Cross has made an appeal to Americans to donate money to help the hurricane victims. It has kicked off what it calls the largest mobilisation of resources in its history for a single disaster. It has dispatched hundreds of its volunteers to work in the affected areas. Thousands of volunteers, rescue workers, utility crews from the capital were on the move to the affected areas in the South. Some commentators said there had never been such a magnitude of hurricane in 30 years. Risk assessment firms estimate that it could cost the insurance industry around $25 billion to compensate. Last year four separate hurricanes that hit Florida and other east coast areas of the United States cost insurers nearly $23 billion. "The devastation is greater than our worst fears. It is just totally overwhelming," said Governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco while Federal Emergency Management Agency called Katrina the most significant natural disaster to hit the United States .

Mohammad Amjad Hossain, a former Bangladesh diplomat, resides in Virginia.