Hurricane Katrina: Understanding physical and social vulnerability

Introduction

What areas along the Gulf Coast of the United States are particularly vulnerable, physically and socially, to hurricanes?

Hurricane Katrina revealed the extent to which a natural disaster can devastate a community. A variety of geographic variables came into play, such as locales closest to the ocean, of lowest elevation, and where the most rain fell. Social variables, such as where the urban poor lived, also affected the outcome. By charting where the most damage occurred and why, investigators can help plan how to mitigate problems, respond to threats, and protect areas before and during similar events in the future.

Location

Gulf coast of the United States

Time to complete the lab

Two hours

Prerequisites

Basic familiarity with GIS

Data used in this lab

Census county boundaries (U.S. Census Bureau)

Digital elevation (http://ned.usgs.gov/)

Hurricane paths (http://csc-s-maps-q.csc.noaa.gov/hurricanes/data/atl_hurtrack.zip)

Precipitation (http://water.weather.gov/ahps/)

Geographic coordinate system: GCS_North_American_1983

Datum: D_North_American_1983

Projection: Lambert_azimuthal_equal_area