What Was Hurricane Katrina?

What was...?

by Robin Koontz, John Hinderliter (Illustrations), Kevin McVeigh (Illustrations)

On August 25th, 2005, one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes in history hit the Gulf of Mexico. High winds and rain pummeled coastal communities, including the City of New Orleans, which was left under 15 feet of water in some areas after the levees burst. Track this powerful storm from start to finish, from rescue efforts large and small to storm survivors’ tales of triumph.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Chapter Books, Juvenile, Education, Biography

112 pages, Paperback

First published August 11, 2015

About the author

Robin Michal Koontz has been writing and illustrating books for children since 1986. Her publications include novelty books, early readers, picture books, nonfiction, short stories for middle-grade readers, magazine articles, and classroom supplemental materials. One of her new books, LEAPS AND CREEPS, was a finalist for the 2012 Animal Behavior Society's Outstanding Children's Book Award. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BUTTERFLY AND A MOTH? was an International Reading Association Teacher's Choice Award in 2010. She lives in western Oregon.

Reviews

[Sonja · Rating 1 out of 5]

What Katrina handled poorly(under statement). YES! During the hurricane did many Americas shout at their TV, asking what are you thinking? YES!
HOWEVER, this is the first Who/What is/was in the series that abuses the hindsight is 20/20. Skip this one....

[Benjamin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skibidi

[Madison Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book I think it was very interesting and cool

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Was Hurricane Katrina? by Robin Koontz presents the events and facts about this devastating storm from the early development into a tropical storm through its strengthening into a Category 5 Hurricane. I spent time in the area many decades before and returned a few years after Katrina and saw they were still cleaning up and rebuilding. This book is targeted for Youth readers but was interesting for an adult audience as well. It was well written and explained the development of the storm, the warnings that were sent out, the evacuations, living through the storm, the rescue efforts, and the cleanup in easy to understand language and includes drawings that help readers to visualize what had happened. Short read that is packed with facts and insight into dealing with a major storm like Katrina.

[Kayla Yirdaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite Who HQ books yet! My class of second graders (born in 2015/2016) were thrilled to hear a preview of this book. None of them had ever heard of Hurricane Katrina and the massive impact it had on the United States and New Orleans.

“What Was Hurricane Katrina?” quickly describes hurricanes, the impact of hurricanes, its effect on New Orleans as a city and on individual people, how the government and local agencies responded, and the pitfalls of their lack of response. This book is straightforward with facts.

I would have appreciated more humanization of the people who lived in New Orleans and were severally impacted. Who HQ provided some specific comments from people but doesn’t usually take a narrative approach to topics which feels like a pitfall for this book. Furthermore, a large portion of the book discussed levees failing but they never defined the word levee. The concept of levees and dams would be foreign to my second grade readers. They would need support building background knowledge before fully grasping this book.

[Caroline Blessing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent info. for children and adults

Excluding gruesome details, this is a comprehensive explanation of Hurricane Katrina with National Weather Service information, historical facts, great illustrations to elaborate the story. This is a good resource for adults to refresh their memories or just educate themselves. An excellent book for children to understand the worst national disaster in US history.

[Megan Britton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes we forget parts of history. As I was reading this book, it all started flooding back (pun intended). I was in a college journalism course and this was the topic for the whole semester. It was really dramatic. I definitely recommend kids reading this to look into old news articles to dive deeper into the immense feelings this event brought out, nationwide.

[Zachary T · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book a lot! I find that reading the what was, who was/is books very enjoyable! Hurricane Katrina sounded like a very scary and deadly storm! It was sad because a lot of people died due to the storm since they weren’t aware of it.

[Esther May · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this book as part of our Engineering class. We learned a lot about why the levees failed in New Orleans and how much of the deaths and damage would not have happened if the levees would have held.

[alyssa ☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i slightly or kinda vaguely remembered getting this book from the library and i really enjoyed it. if who was books had millions of fans i'd be one, if they had ten i'd be one, if they had one I'D BE THE ONE FAN. I loved these books and devoured them!!

[Jordan Schroeder · Rating 1 out of 5]

Takes a page to preach about climate change. It’s real I get it but I just have a problem with the idiots letting taxes raise because they get told what to think and just accept it while elites buy beach house properties. 🐑

[Amanda Dicicco · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was vey educational. I really enjoyed it a lot. Even though it was a children’s book, I like to read them because I still get to learn a lot more. I might find more books like this to listen.

[Ogechukwu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geared more for fifth graders and middle schoolers. All about Hurricane Katrina and how it devestated the city of New Orleans

[lunarlibrarian]

This entire series is very impressive with how comprehensive-yet-concise, informative, and interesting each book in the series is. Definitely a favorite nonfiction series for myself and my students.

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource for children and a fast simple straightforward read for adults. Full of facts and simple truths about Hurricane Katrina.

[Lanaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tells truthful facts and is respectful towards victims. Its truthful data and interesting examples make an amazing read for people of all ages

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was interesting learning about hurricane Katrina. I felt bad for the victims.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't imagine going through that and then having to rebuild everything.

[North Landesman · Rating 5 out of 5]

We just finished this. The Who Was series turns out to be excellent. Weird and interesting to read history books of things I sort of went through.

[Jessica Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is just bull crap! The gulf coast was the worse not New Orleans! Lady u need to re do ur history

[Ariel Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for kids to learn in depth about Hurricane Katrina and how it effected New Orleans. Wish it talked about the other places it effected greatly too but still a great book.

[Hayden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really think this book was bad and I didn't think it was good. I would say it's in the middle. I would recommend this book if you want to know about hurricane Katrina.

[Agt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent informant on what hurricane Katrina was and how badly it affected the USA.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had just started Junior High when this Hurricane hit. Our English teacher had us write a report about it.

[Erica Flory · Rating 4 out of 5]

So incredibly sad

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and simplistic oversight of Hurricane Katrina for early readers.

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

It didn't talk a lot about he hurricane. It talked about the aftermath of the hurricane.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The horror was explained well and at the same time it was not too scary. Excellent resource to show how little the US government provides for people of color.

[M⭐️tcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The images were quite surprising to the most due to me not seeing any pictures of hurricane after damage, etc.

[Kinnera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wanted to know more about Hurricane Katrina after my New Orleans trip.