In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina severely devastated the US Gulf Coast region, killing at least 1,500 people, making it the third deadliest hurricane in US history. UNITED STATES. The author of Survival and Death in New Orleans, Patrick Sharkey (2007), specifically examined data on New Orleans residents who perished during Katrina in an effort to examine the communities most affected by this unfortunate disaster . The storm took its toll on the elderly population and among African Americans, who he said were overrepresented compared to whites. The toll has been not only physical but also mental, due to the enormous amount of loss to their homes, family members, pets, and the childhood neighborhoods in which they grew up. Evidence from Ismail White's (2007) study, entitled Feeling the Pain of my People, concluded that African Americans felt the federal government had lacked a response to the hurricane and was so insufficient that if victims had been white, the government would have acted differently. Consequently, suggested traditions of economic and racial segregation have distorted segments of urban neighborhoods that have been isolated from resources, political influence, and economic gains and are therefore more vulnerable to disasters, such as Katrina. The images of New Orleanians stranded across the city left a lasting feeling. impact on those who followed the media coverage, suggesting that the storm damage was seen as anything but a natural disaster. “Katrina has come to be interpreted by some as a 'metaphor' for the inequality that permeates America's urban areas, most directly affecting poor, primarily black segments of the urban population” (Sharkey 2007: 483). African Americans...... middle of paper...... separation due to race, but actually due to environmental justice. So there isn't much evidence to support either author's claims. The studies lacked evidence in both reports, such as the exact number of deaths, and did not have enough samples that were not directly affected and could have been influenced by the media's prior response or opinion. Although examples such as the bridge incident included racism towards New Orleans residents, they did not specify the race or ethnicity of the type of people who were prohibited from crossing the bridge to safe, but excluded everyone. Perhaps, then, the problem is not simply race, but rather the geological, economic and social inequality that has led these citizens to feel like the targets of such a tragic disaster that has forever changed their way of life. life..