An Overview of the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Alabama’s Gulf CoastOn August 23, 2005, Hurricane Katrina, one of the most devastating storms that the United States has ever seen, came ashore. In the entire history of the United States, Katrina is the "most costliest" and is ranked in the top five “most deadliest." It formed near the area of the Bahamas, and eventually skimmed through Florida as a Category 1.While this did wreck havoc on Florida, the worst of Katrina was yet to come. As she floated through the Gulf of Mexico, she very quickly gained strength and zoomed in on the Gulf Coast, all the way from the Florida Panhandle to the coast of Texas. Unfortunately, Alabama’s Gulf Coast was right in her path… Still reeling from the devastation of Hurricane Ivan the previous year, residents of Alabama’s Gulf Coast had watched all the weather reports and had taken the necessary precautions to brace for the impact that Katrina would have on this area. A massive storm surge with waves ranging from twelve to sixteen feet in height came ashore, leveling sand dunes that were in the early stages of redevelopment after Ivan. Winds of around 70 mph moved in causing more destruction. After Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of Alabama from Mobile Bay to the edge of Orange Beach, it awakened Alabama Gulf Coast residents to the fact that the majority of real estate equity that had been built in recent years was going to be for the most part erased, and this hurricane was going to be different that those that preceded it. Hurricane Frederick in 1978 destroyed most of the small mom and pop establishments that populated the Alabama Gulf Coast, making way for modern, fancier and, most important, more expensive structures. Huricane Ivan was Fredrick-like soon after it hit. It seemed that there was a plan in the making for every square inch of property on Pleasure Island. However, that was short-lived due to the combination of Hurricane Katrina, which has to this day never left the nation's consciousness, and the national real estate bubble. Katrina is the storm that will never be forgotten and will always be a constant reminder that the joy of coastal living is always tempered with the threat of next year's hurricane season. Katrina was the first major hurricane of modern times that didn't leave the Alabama Gulf Coast better than it found it, as strange as that might sound. |
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