Figure 5.9: Photograph taken in October 2009, four years after Hurricane Katrina and its storm surge impacted the shoreline at Gulf Park, Mississippi. Student climbed the tree and found trash and other debris embedded in the notch of the tree at the height of his hand. At a height of over 12’ above the ground, it is hard to imagine the volume and power of the water as it eroded homes completely off their foundations (see the flat foundation slab to the left of the picture). In addition to destroying the two and three story family homes that made up this entire shoreline community, the storm surge resulted in the uplift of most of the sewage, electrical, and other infrastructure elements when the air trapped inside and under them became buoyant and lifted out of the ground. The large concrete sewage culverts in the photo are new and had yet to be installed in 2009 – one of the reasons the community had yet to rebuild.
Originally uploaded in Integrate:Teaching for Sustainability:InTeGrate Modules:Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society:Student Materials.
Image 131073 is a 1795 by 1432 pixel WebP
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Sep7 16
