The Environmental Health and Emergency Preparedness Impacts of Hurricane Katrina

Fifteen years ago, Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a powerful category 3 storm in southeast Louisiana, bringing record storm surges exceeding 27 feet in Mississippi and approaching 20 feet in New Orleans, Louisiana. The surge into Lake Pontchartrain battered the citys outflow canals, leading to failure and the eventual technological disaster that poured over New Orleans. We reflect on Katrinas impacts on environmental public health and the emergency preparedness landscape. Katrinas effects on environmental health from a chemical and heavy metal perspective were substantial. Storms of this magnitude coupled with floodwater inundation reveal how complex the sources and types of chemical and elemental hazards can be, hazards that include pollutants mobilized from hazardous waste sites, oil spills, and formaldehyde off-gassing in temporary housing units.Adverse respiratory outcomes associated with both acute and chronic exposures to particulate matter, including biological and chemical hazards, were prevalent in Katrina disaster victims, first responders, and the workforce, including transient volunteers, who are typically involved in remediation, demolition, and cleanup of affected residential and industrial areas.2 Noise exposure and heat stress associated with heavy equipment use and physical labor during summer months in hurricane-prone regions are consistent sources of disaster-related injury.