Lunch and Learn: Hurricane Katrina - 20 Years After the Storm

Co-presented with the Prince George's County Office of Human Rights

This summer, grab your favorite lunch at noon and tune in to virtual conversations with the Prince George’s County Office of Human Rights and the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System on topics from repairing the effects of racial injustice to fighting for equitable access to recovering from exile and loss. Let’s learn together!

Lunch and Learn returns with special guests Juyanne James, Julie Liddell Whitehead, and Audrey Lau in conversation with the Prince George's County Office of Human Rights and the Prince George's County Memorial Library System, discussing the legacy of Katrina, what we learn from natural disasters, how we came together – or didn’t – as a community and as a nation, and also about the art that stemmed specifically from Katrina and more generally, from such moments of disaster.

Registration not required. Click on the YouTube video linked below to stream the program live or watch the recording later.

About Hurricane Katrina:

Hurricane Katrina (August 2005) became a large and extremely powerful hurricane that caused enormous destruction and significant loss of life. It is the costliest hurricane to ever hit the United States. In addition, Katrina is one of the five deadliest hurricanes to ever strike the United States. In all, Hurricane Katrina was responsible for 1,833 fatalities and approximately $108 billion in damage (un-adjusted 2005 dollars).

On August 23rd, a tropical depression formed over the southeastern Bahamas, becoming Tropical Storm Katrina on August 24th as it moved into the central Bahamas. The storm continued to track west while gradually intensifying and made its initial landfall along the southeast Florida coast on August 25th as a Category 1 hurricane (80mph) on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. After moving west across south Florida and into the very warm waters of the Gulf, Katrina intensified rapidly and attained Category 5 status (with peak sustained winds of 175mph) for a period of time as it moved northwest on August 28th. Katrina weakened to a Category 3 before making landfall along the northern Gulf Coast, first in southeast Louisiana (sustained winds: 125mph) and then made landfall once more along the Mississippi Gulf Coast (sustained winds: 120mph). Katrina finally weakened below hurricane intensity late on August 29th over east central Mississippi.

The damage and loss of life inflicted by this massive hurricane in Louisiana and Mississippi was staggering with significant effects extending into Alabama and the western Florida panhandle. This was a storm that captivated the public and media with most coverage occurring in the New Orleans area. Considering the scope of its impacts, Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters in United States history.

As Katrina set new minimum central pressure records while  approaching the northern Gulf Coast on Sunday, August 28th, the storm made its final turn to the north as it moved toward southeastern Louisiana. Katrina was a large storm with a very distinct eye. Early on the 28th, Katrina reached a minimum central pressure of 902mb (at the peak) - ranking 7th lowest on record for all Atlantic Basin hurricanes - and rapidly intensified to a Category 5 (175mph).

Katrina then weakened to a Category 4 hurricane as it moved across the north central Gulf and weakened further to a strong Category 3 hurricane shortly before making landfall in southeast Louisiana. The central pressure at landfall was 920mb - ranking 3rd lowest on record for a US landfalling hurricane, behind Hurricane Camille in 1969 (900mb) and the Labor Day Hurricane that struck the Florida Keys in 1935 (892mb).

The storm continued moving north-northeast and made a second landfall over Hancock County, Mississippi (near the mouth of the Pearl River) - still Category 3. After Katrina moved inland into southern Mississippi on the afternoon of August 29th, the storm left a wake of devastation that will never be forgotten. The loss of life and property damage was heightened by breaks in the levees that separate New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain. At least 80% of New Orleans was under flood waters on August 31st.

About the panel:

Juyanne James is a Louisiana native and is the author of The Persimmon Trail and Other Stories (Chin Music Press, 2015), as well as Table Scraps and Other Essays (Resource Publishers, 2019). Her stories and essays have been published in journals, such as The Louisville Review, Bayou Magazine, Eleven Eleven, Thrice, Ponder Review, Xavier Review, Burningword Literary Journal, and NonBinary Review, and included in the anthologies New Stories from the South: 2009 (Algonquin) and Something in the Water: 20 Louisiana Stories (Portals Press, 2011). Her essay “Table Scraps” was a notable essay in The Best American Essays 2014. Juyanne lives and teaches in New Orleans.

Julie Liddell Whitehead lives and writes from Mississippi. An award-winning freelance writer, Julie covered disasters from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina throughout her career. Her first book is Hurricane Baby: Stories, published by Madville Publishing. She writes on mental health, mental health education, and mental health advocacy. She has a bachelor’s degree in communication, with a journalism emphasis, and a master’s degree in English, both from Mississippi State University. In August 2021, she completed her MFA from Mississippi University for Women.

Audrey Lau is the Adult and Senior Services Specialist for the Prince George's County Memorial Library System, joining the PGCMLS staff in 2014. A native of Pennsylvania, she moved to Mississippi in 2003 to pursue her graduate degrees in history at the University of Mississippi. She was in Oxford, MS for the duration of the storm and its aftermath, helping hurricane-affected students transition to UM mid-semester and participating in relief efforts.