History of the United States II / Unit 17 USH2 2419 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Hurricane Katrina
The idea
In August two thousand five Hurricane Katrina struck the coasts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. In New Orleans the levees gave way under the storm surge, a failure the Army Corps of Engineers had warned of. The flooding killed some fifteen hundred people and trapped tens of thousands who could not evacuate, the anchor records.
In practice
A city flooded behind broken embankments, tens of thousands unable to leave.
Where people slip
The misreading blames the storm alone. The anchor's cause of death is the flooding that followed the levees' failure. It calls the response a failure of the homeland security apparatus, and the Yawp says Bush's presidency took a heavy blow from his perceived failure to respond to the tragedy. Theme four's thread, from the Dust Bowl to the Tennessee Valley, reaches here.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
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