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The Main Bar was a historic building in Downtown Columbus, Ohio . The two-story building was constructed as early as 1887, and held numerous commercial and residential uses. Its latest tenant, The Main Bar, opened around 2000 and closed in 2021. The building was demolished in October 2021.

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115-529: The two-story building had 1,800 square feet (170 m). It was surrounded by parking lots and new development. The building had a shotgun layout , with one narrow bar room leading to another, leading to a back porch. The bar that operated in the building was a typical dive bar that drew a diverse crowd of people, including from nearby apartments, hotels, courthouses, and office buildings. The building has an unknown date of construction, and appeared on maps as early as 1887. A bar opened there as early as 1890 as

230-550: A bottleneck at the Rigolets Pass, forcing it farther inland. The range of surge levels in eastern St. Tammany Parish is estimated at 13–16 feet (4.0–4.9 m), not including wave action. Hard-hit St. Bernard Parish was flooded because of breaching of the levees that contained a navigation channel called the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MR-GO) and the breach of the 40 Arpent canal levee that

345-413: A description of this shotgun house and Jeff's fondness of it. One of the more widely known references to a shotgun house is in the 1980 Talking Heads song " Once In A Lifetime ". The first line of the song is "And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack". The John Mellencamp song " Pink Houses " was inspired when he was driving along an overpass on the way home to Bloomington, Indiana from

460-962: A distinctive urban life. Other cities, such as Macon, Georgia , experimented with renovating shotgun houses for low-income residents and, though there was indecision whether it would be cheaper to tear them down and build new housing, some were rebuilt. There are many large neighborhoods in older American cities of the south which still contain a high concentration of shotgun houses today. Examples include Third Ward in Houston ; Bywater in New Orleans ; The Hill in St. Louis ; Portland , Butchertown and Germantown in Louisville ; Cabbagetown in Atlanta and Village West of Coconut Grove in Miami where

575-463: A fireplace opening in each room. The kitchen usually has its own chimney. Other than the basic floor layout, shotgun houses have many standard features in common. The house is almost always close to the street, sometimes with a very short front yard. In some cases, the house has no setback and is actually flush with the sidewalk . The original steps were wood, but were often replaced with permanent concrete steps. A sign of its New Orleans heritage,

690-660: A mandatory evacuation was ordered for vulnerable housing in Martin County . Shelters were opened across the region. Officials closed the Miami International Airport , Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport , Key West International Airport , and Florida Keys Marathon Airport due to the storm. In Monroe and Collier counties, schools were closed, and a shelter was opened in Immokalee . On August 28, Alabama Governor Bob Riley declared

805-436: A massive national and international response effort, including federal, local, and private rescue operations to evacuate those displaced from the city in the following weeks. After the storm, multiple investigations concluded that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , which had designed and built the region's levees decades earlier, was responsible for the failure of the flood-control systems. However, federal courts later ruled that

920-570: A new owner will buy both homes of a double-barreled shotgun structure and combine them, to form a relatively large single house. Shotguns are also often combined to renovate them into offices or storage spaces. Elements of the shotgun style have recently been seen in a number of the compact, low-occupancy structures employed in the Solar Decathlon contests held periodically in Washington, DC. While some are erected from panels brought to

1035-518: A news conference at 10 am. EDT on August 28, shortly after Katrina was upgraded to a Category 5 storm, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin ordered the first-ever mandatory evacuation of the city, calling Katrina "a storm that most of us have long feared". The city government also established several "refuges of last resort" for citizens who could not leave the city, including the massive Louisiana Superdome , which sheltered approximately 26,000 people and provided them with food and water for several days as

1150-522: A peninsula between the Back Bay and the coast, was particularly hard hit, especially the low-lying Point Cadet area. In Jackson County, storm surge flowed up the wide river estuary , with the combined surge and freshwater flooding cutting the county in half. Remarkably, over 90% of Pascagoula, the easternmost coastal city in Mississippi, and about 75 miles (120 km) east of Katrina's landfall near

1265-478: A result of Hurricane Katrina and two people died in a traffic accident in the state. Residents in some areas, such as Selma, were without power for several days. Northern and central Georgia were affected by heavy rains and strong winds from Hurricane Katrina as the storm moved inland, with more than 3 inches (76 mm) of rain falling in several areas. At least 18 tornadoes formed in Georgia on August 29, 2005,

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1380-548: A result of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina's storm surge inundated all parishes surrounding Lake Pontchartrain, including St. Tammany , Tangipahoa, St. John the Baptist , and St. Charles Parishes. St. Tammany Parish received a two-part storm surge. The first surge came as Lake Pontchartrain rose and the storm blew water from the Gulf of Mexico into the lake. The second came as the eye of Katrina passed, westerly winds pushed water into

1495-415: A state of emergency for the approaching Hurricane Katrina. On the same day, he requested President Bush to declare "expedited major disaster declaration" for six counties of South Alabama, which was quickly approved. Three hundred fifty national guardsmen were called on duty by August 30. The state of Mississippi activated its National Guard on August 26 in preparation for the storm's landfall. Additionally,

1610-511: A state of emergency in selected regions of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi on August 27. "On Sunday, August 28, President Bush spoke with Governor Blanco to encourage her to order a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans." However, during the testimony by former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief Michael Brown before a U.S. House subcommittee on September 26, Representative Stephen Buyer (R-IN) inquired as to why Bush's declaration of state of emergency of August 27 had not included

1725-630: A strong Category 3 hurricane. Although the storm surge to the east of the path of the eye in Mississippi was higher, a significant surge affected the Louisiana coast. The height of the surge is uncertain because of a lack of data, although a tide gauge in Plaquemines Parish indicated a storm tide in excess of 14 feet (4.3 m), and a 12-foot (3.7 m) storm surge was recorded in Grand Isle . The hurricane made its final landfall near

1840-495: A very poor class of tenants. After the Great Depression few shotgun houses were built, and existing ones went into decline. By the late 20th century shotgun houses in some areas were being restored as housing others and for other uses. Shotgun houses were often initially built as rental properties, located near manufacturing centers or railroad hubs, to provide housing for workers. Owners of factories frequently built

1955-404: Is a side door allowing access to the kitchen, or a porch along the side extending almost the length of the house. "North shore" houses are shotgun houses with wide verandas on three sides. They were so named because most were built on the north shore of New Orleans' Lake Pontchartrain as summer homes for wealthy whites. The construction of shotgun houses slowed and eventually stopped during

2070-500: Is almost impossible to determine the exact cause of some of the fatalities. A 2008 report by the Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness journal indicates that 966 deaths can be directly attributed to the storm in Louisiana, including out of state evacuees, and another 20 indirectly (such as firearm-related deaths and gas poisoning). Due to uncertain causes of death with 454 evacuees, an upper-bound of 1,440

2185-403: Is first, then one or two bedrooms, and finally a kitchen in back. Early shotgun houses were not built with bathrooms, but in later years a bathroom with a small hall was built before the last room of the house, or a side addition was built off the kitchen. Some shotguns have only two rooms. Chimneys tended to be built in the interior, allowing the front and middle rooms to share a chimney with

2300-689: Is noted in the paper. A follow-up study by the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals determined that the storm was directly responsible for 1,170 fatalities in Louisiana. Federal disaster declarations covered 90,000 square miles (230,000 km ) of the United States, an area almost as large as the United Kingdom. The hurricane left an estimated three million people without electricity. On September 3, 2005, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described

2415-474: Is that the style can be traced from Africa to Saint Dominican influences on house design in New Orleans , but the houses can be found as far away as Key West and Ybor City in Florida , and Texas , and as far north as Chicago , Illinois . Though initially as popular with the middle class as with poor families, the shotgun house became a symbol of poverty in the mid-20th century. Urban renewal led to

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2530-684: Is usually supported by decorative wooden brackets, and sometimes contains cast iron ventilators. The rooms are well-sized, and have relatively high ceilings for cooling purposes, as when warm air can rise higher, the lower part of a room tends to be cooler. The lack of hallways allows for efficient cross-ventilation in every room. Rooms usually have some decoration such as moldings , ceiling medallions, and elaborate woodwork. In cities like New Orleans, local industries supplied elaborate but mass-produced brackets and other ornaments for shotgun houses that were accessible even to homeowners of modest means. The double shotgun requires less land per household than

2645-467: Is very similar to the traditional shotgun house, except there are stairs in the back room leading up to the second floor. The second floor, or "hump", contains one to four rooms. Because it was only a partial second story, most cities only taxed it as a single-story house – this was a key reason for their construction. A combination, the Double Camelback shotgun, also exists. A minor variation

2760-519: The Gulf of Mexico on August 26 and rapidly intensified . The storm strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before weakening to a high-end Category 3 hurricane at its second landfall on August 29 over southeast Louisiana and Mississippi . The largest loss of life in Hurricane Katrina was due to flooding caused by engineering flaws in

2875-550: The Indianapolis airport . There was an old black man sitting outside his little pink shotgun house with his cat in his arms, completely unperturbed by the traffic speeding along the highway in his front yard. "He waved, and I waved back," Mellencamp said in an interview with Rolling Stone. "That's how 'Pink Houses' started.". In Bruce Springsteen's song " We Take Care of Our Own ", from the album Wrecking Ball , he refers to shotgun houses, singing "We take care of our own, from

2990-578: The Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve ). This style was used so frequently that some southern cities estimate that, even today, 10% or more of their housing stock is composed of shotgun houses. The earliest known use of "shotgun house" as a name for these dwellings is in a classified advertisement in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution , August 30, 1903: "Two 3-room houses near

3105-539: The Lesser Antilles . On August 23, the disturbance organized into Tropical Depression Twelve over the southeastern Bahamas. The storm strengthened into Tropical Storm Katrina on the morning of August 24. The tropical storm moved towards Florida and became a hurricane only two hours before making landfall between Hallandale Beach and Aventura on the morning of August 25. The storm weakened over land, but it regained hurricane status about one hour after entering

3220-504: The Loop Current , from a Category 3 hurricane to a Category 5 hurricane in just nine hours. After attaining Category 5 hurricane status on the morning of August 28, Katrina reached its peak strength at 1800 UTC , with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 902  mbar (26.6  inHg ). The pressure measurement made Katrina the fifth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record at

3335-650: The Miami metropolitan area , with a peak total of 16.43 in (417 mm) in Perrine . As a result, local flooding occurred in Miami-Dade County , damaging approximately 100 homes. Farther south in the Florida Keys, a tornado was spawned in Marathon on August 26. The tornado damaged a hangar at the airport there and caused an estimated $ 5 million in damage. The rains caused flooding, and

3450-636: The South , since the style's length and outside doors at each end allowed for excellent airflow, while its narrow frontage increased the number of lots that could be fitted along a street, as was the case with the shotgun homes in Fazendeville, Louisiana , a historic, African American village that was ultimately razed during the 1960s as part of the creation of the Chalmette National Historical Park and Battlefield (now part of

3565-540: The United States Coast Guard (USCG), National Hurricane Center (NHC), and National Weather Service (NWS), were commended for their actions, with the NHC being particularly praised for its accurate forecasts well in advance. Katrina was the earliest 11th named storm on record before being surpassed by Tropical Storm Kyle on August 14, 2020. The destruction and loss of life caused by the storm prompted

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3680-549: The federally built levee system protecting metro New Orleans and the failure of the 40 Arpent Canal levee. Failures occurred in New Orleans and surrounding communities, especially St. Bernard Parish. The Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MR-GO) breached its levees in approximately 20 places, flooding much of eastern New Orleans, most of St. Bernard Parish and the East Bank of Plaquemines Parish . The major levee breaches in

3795-503: The 1950s and 1960s, but many others did not and remain predominantly white. Regardless of who was living in them, from World War II until the 1980s shotguns came to be widely viewed as substandard housing and a symbol of poverty, and they were demolished by many urban renewal projects. This thinking is no longer so prevalent, with such cities as Charlotte establishing "Shotgun Historic Districts". Shotgun houses have even been praised as quality and cost-effective cultural assets that promote

3910-657: The Bay St. Louis–Pass Christian bridge, and the Biloxi– Ocean Springs bridge. In addition, the eastbound span of the I-10 bridge over the Pascagoula River estuary was damaged. In the weeks after the storm, with the connectivity of the coastal U.S. Highway 90 shattered, traffic traveling parallel to the coast was reduced first to State Road 11 (parallel to I-10) then to two lanes on the remaining I-10 span when it

4025-636: The Cochrane Bridge just outside Mobile. No significant damage resulted to the bridge and it was soon reopened. The damage on Dauphin Island was severe, with the surge destroying many houses and cutting a new canal through the western portion of the island. An offshore oil rig also became grounded on the island. As in Mississippi, the storm surge caused significant beach erosion along the Alabama coastline. More than 600,000 people lost power in Alabama as

4140-714: The Corps could not be held financially liable due to sovereign immunity in the Flood Control Act of 1928 . The emergency response from federal, state, and local governments was widely criticized, leading to the resignation of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director Michael D. Brown and New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Superintendent Eddie Compass . Many other government officials faced criticism for their responses, especially New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin , Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco , and President George W. Bush . However, several agencies, such as

4255-576: The Gulf Coast had been shut down, including all freight and Amtrak rail traffic into the evacuation areas as well as the Waterford Nuclear Generating Station . Since Hurricane Katrina, Amtrak's Sunset Limited service has never been restored past New Orleans. In Louisiana, the state's hurricane evacuation plan calls for local governments in areas along and near the coast to evacuate in three phases, starting with

4370-597: The Gulf Coast were covered under a voluntary or mandatory evacuation order. On the afternoon of August 26, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) realized that Katrina had yet to make the turn toward the Florida Panhandle and ended up revising the predicted track of the storm from the panhandle to the Mississippi coast. The National Weather Service's New Orleans/Baton Rouge office issued a vividly worded bulletin on August 28 predicting that

4485-469: The Gulf of Mexico, and it continued strengthening over open waters. On August 27, the storm reached Category 3 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale , becoming the third major hurricane of the season. An eyewall replacement cycle disrupted the intensification but caused the storm to nearly double in size. Thereafter, Katrina rapidly intensified over the "unusually warm" waters of

4600-521: The Hare and Corbin saloon. It subsequently saw numerous residential and commercial uses. The Main Bar owners purchased the business in 2000. The building and property owner, developer and attorney Scott Schiff, attempted to evict the bar in 2015, along with surrounding properties. The bar owner successfully resisted the eviction attempts at the time, though properties around it were demolished or developed, leaving

4715-827: The I-10 Twin Span Bridge traveling eastbound towards Slidell, Louisiana had collapsed. Both the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway and the Crescent City Connection only carried emergency traffic. However, access to downtown New Orleans and the "shelter of last resort" at the Convention Center was never closed because River Road in Jefferson Parish and Leake Avenue and Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans were not flooded, and would have allowed access throughout

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4830-640: The Louisiana-Mississippi border was flooded from storm surge at the height of the storm. Other large Jackson County neighborhoods such as Porteaux Bay and Gulf Hills were severely damaged with large portions being completely destroyed, and St. Martin was hard hit; Ocean Springs, Moss Point , Gautier and Escatawpa also suffered major surge damage. Mississippi Emergency Management Agency officials also recorded deaths in Forrest , Hinds , Warren , and Leake counties. Over 900,000 people throughout

4945-799: The Miami area. Cruise ships altered their paths due to seaports in southeastern Florida closing. Officials in Miami-Dade County advised residents in mobile homes or with special needs to evacuate. To the north in Broward County, residents east of the Intracoastal Waterway or in mobile homes were advised to leave their homes. Evacuation orders were issued for offshore islands in Palm Beach County , and for residents in mobile homes south of Lantana Road. Additionally,

5060-584: The New Orleans region prior to the mandatory evacuation. Aircrews from the Aviation Training Center, in Mobile, staged rescue aircraft from Texas to Florida. All aircraft were returning towards the Gulf of Mexico by the afternoon of August 29. Aircrews , many of whom lost their homes during the hurricane, began a round-the-clock rescue effort in New Orleans, and along the Mississippi and Alabama coastlines. President George W. Bush declared

5175-583: The Superdome, only six deaths were confirmed there, with four of these originating from natural causes , one from a drug overdose, and one a suicide. At the Convention Center, four bodies were recovered. One of the four is believed to be the result of a homicide. There is evidence that many prisoners were abandoned in their cells during the storm, while the guards sought shelter. Hundreds of prisoners were later registered as "unaccounted for". The Gulf coast of Mississippi suffered extremely severe damage from

5290-526: The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, in St. Bernard Parish, 81% (20,229) of the housing units were damaged. In St. Tammany Parish, 70% (48,792) were damaged and in Plaquemines Parish 80% (7,212) were damaged. In addition, the combined effect of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was the destruction of an estimated 562 square kilometres (217 sq mi) of coastal wetlands in Louisiana. As

5405-520: The US and from foreign countries, all looking to fill emerging manufacturing jobs, created the high demand for housing in cities. Shotgun houses were built to fulfill the same need as rowhouses in Northeastern cities. Several were often built at a time by a single builder, contributing to their similar appearance. The rooms of a shotgun house are lined up one behind the other, typically a living room

5520-614: The United States. The death toll from Katrina is uncertain, with reports differing by hundreds. According to the National Hurricane Center, 1,836 fatalities can be attributed to the storm: one in Kentucky , two each in Alabama, Georgia , and Ohio , 14 in Florida, 238 in Mississippi, and 1,577 in Louisiana. However, 135 people remain categorized as missing in Louisiana, and many of the deaths are indirect, but it

5635-518: The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as "probably the worst catastrophe or set of catastrophes" in the country's history, referring to the hurricane itself plus the flooding of New Orleans. Even in 2010, debris remained in some coastal communities. Before striking South Florida, Katrina traversed the Bahamas as a tropical storm. However, minimal impact was reported, with only "fresh breezes" on various islands. Although Hurricane Katrina stayed well to

5750-463: The airport on September 13 and regular carrier operations resumed in early October. Levee breaches in New Orleans also caused a significant number of deaths, with over 700 bodies recovered in New Orleans by October 23, 2005. Some survivors and evacuees reported seeing dead bodies lying in city streets and floating in still-flooded sections, especially in the east of the city. The advanced state of decomposition of many corpses, some of which were left in

5865-463: The area would be "uninhabitable for weeks" after "devastating damage" caused by Katrina, which at that time rivaled the intensity of Hurricane Camille . During video conferences involving the president later that day and on August 29, NHC director Max Mayfield expressed concern that Katrina might push its storm surge over the city's levees and flood walls. In one conference, he stated, "I do not think anyone can tell you with confidence right now whether

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5980-403: The back of the house, sometimes crudely. "Double-barrel" or "double" shotgun houses are a semi-detached configuration, consisting of two houses sharing a central wall, allowing more houses to be fit into an area. "Camelback" shotgun houses include a second floor at the rear of the house. In some cases the entire floor plan is changed during remodeling to create hallways. The origins of both

6095-541: The center and the storm's central pressure was 920 mbar (27 inHg). After moving over southeastern Louisiana and Breton Sound , it made its third and final landfall near the Louisiana–Mississippi border with 120 mph (190 km/h) sustained winds, still at a mid-range Category 3 hurricane intensity. Katrina maintained strength well into Mississippi, finally losing hurricane strength more than 150 miles (240 km) inland near Meridian, Mississippi . It

6210-527: The city included breaches at the 17th Street Canal levee, the London Avenue Canal , and the wide, navigable Industrial Canal , which left approximately 80% of the city flooded. Most of the major roads traveling into and out of the city were damaged. The only major intact highway routes out of the city were the westbound Crescent City Connection and the Huey P. Long Bridge, as large portions of

6325-531: The city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. It is tied with Hurricane Harvey as being the costliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin . Katrina was the twelfth tropical cyclone, the fifth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season . It was also the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States , gauged by barometric pressure. Katrina formed on August 23, 2005, with

6440-484: The city. A June 2007 report by the American Society of Civil Engineers indicated that two-thirds of the flooding was caused by the multiple failures of the city's floodwalls. The storm surge also devastated the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, making Katrina one of the most destructive hurricanes, the costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States (tied with Hurricane Harvey in 2017), and

6555-495: The coastal communities of Clermont Harbor and Waveland, much of Bay St. Louis, and flowed up the Jourdan River, flooding Diamondhead and Kiln . In Harrison County, Pass Christian was completely inundated, along with a narrow strip of land to the east along the coast, which includes the cities of Long Beach and Gulfport; the flooding was more extensive in communities such as D'Iberville, which borders Back Bay. Biloxi , on

6670-410: The coastal parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, and Plaquemines. The declaration actually did not include any of Louisiana's coastal parishes, whereas the coastal counties were included in the declarations for Mississippi and Alabama . Brown testified that this was because Louisiana Governor Blanco had not included those parishes in her initial request for aid, a decision that he found "shocking". After

6785-483: The combination of rains and winds downed trees and power lines, leaving 1.45 million people without power. Damage in South Florida was estimated at $ 523 million, mostly as a result of crop damage. Twelve deaths occurred in South Florida, of which three were caused by downed trees in Broward County, three from drowning in Miami-Dade County, three were from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by generators, one

6900-401: The computer models had shifted the potential path of Katrina 150 miles (240 km) westward from the Florida Panhandle, putting the city of New Orleans directly in the center of their track probabilities; the chances of a direct hit were forecast at 17%, with strike probability rising to 29% by August 28. This scenario was considered a potential catastrophe because some parts of New Orleans and

7015-601: The deadliest hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane . The total damage from Katrina is estimated at $ 125 billion (2005 U.S. dollars). However, in February 2021, a severe winter storm struck the United States, causing a major power failure in Houston, which caused at least $ 195 billion (2021 USD) in damage in Texas. It surpassed both Katrina and Harvey to become the single-costliest natural disaster recorded in

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7130-416: The destruction of many shotgun houses; however, in areas affected by gentrification , historic preservation efforts have led to the renovation of such houses. Several variations of shotgun houses allow for additional features and space, and many have been updated to the needs of later generations of owners. The oldest shotgun houses were built without indoor plumbing , which was often added later, often on

7245-407: The early 20th century. The increased affordability of two technological innovations, the car and consumer air conditioning units, made the key advantages of the shotgun house obsolete to home buyers. After World War II, shotgun houses had very little appeal to those building or buying new houses, as car-oriented modern suburbs were built en masse . Few shotgun houses have been built in the US since

7360-455: The extremely limited evidence – two rooms that "may or may not have been unified" – has been challenged as "premature". Vlach's theory behind the earlier African origin is tied to the history of New Orleans . In 1803 there were 1,355 free black people in the city. By 1810 black people outnumbered white people 10,500 to 4,500. This caused a housing boom. As many of both the builders and inhabitants were Africans by way of Haiti, Vlach maintained it

7475-444: The eye of Hurricane Katrina swept to the northeast, it subjected the city to hurricane conditions for hours. Although power failures prevented accurate measurement of wind speeds in New Orleans, there were a few measurements of hurricane-force winds; based on this information, the NHC concluded that much of the city likely experienced sustained winds of Category 1 or 2 hurricane strength. Katrina's storm surge caused 53 levee breaches in

7590-457: The flood protection system, particularly the levees around the city of New Orleans. 80% of the city, as well as large areas in neighboring parishes , were flooded for weeks. The flooding destroyed most of New Orleans's transportation and communication facilities, leaving tens of thousands of people who did or could not evacuate the city before landfall with little access to food, shelter, and other necessities. The disaster in New Orleans prompted

7705-437: The greatest number are found dispersed from there in a manner that supports the diffusion theory. The style was definitely built there by 1832, though there is evidence that houses sold in the 1830s were built 15 to 20 years earlier. A simpler theory is that they are the typical one-room-deep floor plan popular in the rural south, rotated to accommodate narrow city lots. Such houses were built throughout hot urban areas in

7820-486: The hearing, Blanco released a copy of her letter, which showed she had requested assistance for "all the southeastern parishes including the City of New Orleans" as well as specifically named 14 parishes, including Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines. Voluntary and mandatory evacuations were issued for large areas of southeast Louisiana as well as coastal Mississippi and Alabama. About 1.2 million residents of

7935-484: The historic building standing alone. In the same year, the site was listed as one of the region's most endangered sites, as recorded by Columbus Landmarks . The property remained on the organization's endangered site list until demolition. In February 2021, the bar closed, amid the COVID-19 pandemic . The bar owner decided to close due to low foot traffic during the pandemic, a rough cycle of closings and reopenings, and

8050-494: The hotel's glass exterior was completely sheared off. The Superdome , which was sheltering many people who had not evacuated, sustained significant damage. Two sections of the Superdome's roof were compromised and the dome's waterproof membrane was essentially peeled off. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was closed before the storm but did not flood. On August 30, it was reopened to humanitarian and rescue operations. Limited commercial passenger service resumed at

8165-459: The house is usually raised two to three feet (60 to 90 cm) off the ground. There is a single door and window in the front of the house, and often a side door leading into the back room, which is slightly wider than the rest of the house. The front door and window often were originally covered by decorative shutters. Side walls may or may not have windows; rooms adjoining either the front or back door will generally have at least one window even when

8280-417: The houses are built very close together. Typically, shotgun houses have a wood-frame structure and wood siding, although some examples exist in brick and even stone. Many shotguns, especially older or less expensive ones, have flat roofs that end at the front wall of the house. In houses built after 1880, the roof usually overhangs the front wall, and there is usually a gable above the overhang. The overhang

8395-529: The houses to rent specifically to employees, usually for a few dollars a month. However, by the late 20th century shotguns were often owner-occupied. For example, 85% of the houses (many of them shotgun) in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward were owner-occupied. Shotgun houses were most popular before widespread ownership of the automobile allowed people to live farther from businesses and other destinations. Building lots were small, 30 feet (9 m) wide at most. An influx of people to cities, both from rural areas in

8510-967: The immediate coast 50 hours before the start of tropical-storm-force winds. Persons in areas designated Phase II begin evacuating 40 hours before the onset of tropical storm winds and those in Phase III areas (including New Orleans) evacuate 30 hours before the start of such winds. Many private caregiving facilities that relied on bus companies and ambulance services for evacuation were unable to evacuate their charges because they waited too long. Louisiana's Emergency Operations Plan Supplement 1C (Part II, Section II, Paragraph D) calls for use of school and other public buses in evacuations. Although buses that later flooded were available to transport those dependent on public transportation, not enough bus drivers were available to drive them since Governor Blanco did not sign an emergency waiver to allow any licensed driver to transport evacuees on school buses. By August 26, many of

8625-483: The immediate post-storm emergency period. On August 29, at 7:40 am. CDT, it was reported that most of the windows on the north side of the Hyatt Regency New Orleans had been blown out, and many other high rise buildings had extensive window damage. The Hyatt was the most severely damaged hotel in the city, with beds reported to be flying out of the windows. Insulation tubes were exposed as

8740-441: The impact of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, leaving 238 people dead, 67 missing, and billions of dollars in damage: bridges, barges, boats, piers, houses, and cars were washed inland. Katrina traveled up the entire state; as a result, all 82 counties in Mississippi were declared disaster areas for federal assistance, 47 for full assistance. After making a brief initial landfall in Louisiana, Katrina had made its final landfall near

8855-580: The last remaining 25 shotgun homes have been designated as historic structures. Their role in the history of the south has become recognized; for example, in October 2001 Rice University sponsored an exhibition called "Shotguns 2001". This three-day event featured lectures on and artistic paintings of the houses, as well as presentations and panel discussions in a neighborhood of restored shotguns. In some shotgun-dominated neighborhoods, gentrification has led to property values becoming quite high. Sometimes,

8970-468: The levees will be topped or not, but that's obviously a very, very great concern." In Florida, Governor Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency on August 24 in advance of Hurricane Katrina's landfall. By the following day, Florida's Emergency Operations Center was activated in Tallahassee to monitor the progress of the hurricane. Before Katrina moved ashore, schools and businesses were closed in

9085-464: The majority of the state. Katrina caused eleven tornadoes in Mississippi on August 29, some of which damaged trees and power lines. Battered by wind, rain and storm surge, some beachfront neighborhoods were completely leveled. Preliminary estimates by Mississippi officials calculated that 90% of the structures within half a mile of the coastline were completely destroyed, and that storm surges traveled as much as 6 miles (10 km) inland in portions of

9200-399: The merger of a tropical wave and the remnants of Tropical Depression Ten . Early the following day, the depression intensified into a tropical storm and headed generally westward toward Florida. On August 25, two hours before making landfall at Hallandale Beach , it strengthened into a hurricane. After briefly weakening to tropical storm strength over southern Florida, Katrina entered

9315-399: The metro area are below sea level. Since the storm surge produced by the hurricane's right-front quadrant (containing the strongest winds) was forecast to be 28 feet (8.5 m), while the levees offered protection to 23 feet (7.0 m), emergency management officials in New Orleans feared that the storm surge could go over the tops of levees protecting the city, causing major flooding. At

9430-416: The mid-to-late 20th century. Confusing ownership passed down within a family over several generations also contributed to many houses sitting vacant for years. Though shotguns are sometimes perceived as being prevalent in poor African American neighborhoods, many originally constituted much of the housing stock of segregated white neighborhoods. Many of these neighborhoods became predominantly black during

9545-515: The most on record in that state for one day in August. The most serious of these tornadoes was an F2 tornado which affected Heard County and Carroll County . This tornado caused three injuries and one fatality and damaged several houses. The other tornadoes caused significant damages to buildings and agricultural facilities. In addition to the fatality caused by the F2 tornado, there was another fatality in

9660-487: The mouth of the Pearl River , with the eye straddling St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana , and Hancock County, Mississippi , on the morning of August 29 at about 9:45 am. CDT. Hurricane Katrina also brought heavy rain to Louisiana, with 8–10 inches (200–250 mm) falling on a wide swath of the eastern part of the state. In the area around Slidell , the rainfall was even higher, and the highest rainfall recorded in

9775-630: The name Katrina to be retired by the World Meteorological Organization in April 2006. On January 4, 2023, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) updated the Katrina fatality data based on a report by Rappaport (2014) which reduced the number from an estimated 1,833 to 1,392. Hurricane Katrina originated from the merger of a tropical wave and the mid-level remnants of Tropical Depression Ten on August 19, 2005, near

9890-502: The name may have originated from a Dahomey Fon area term 'to-gun', which means "place of assembly". The description, probably used in New Orleans by Afro-Haitian slaves, may have been misunderstood and reinterpreted as "shotgun". Citing Vlach, James Deetz claimed archaeological support for an African origin in his dig at Parting Ways , a 1790s community of freed black slaves in Plymouth, Massachusetts; his shotgun interpretation of

10005-571: The north of Cuba , on August 28 it brought tropical-storm-force winds and rainfall of over 8 in (200 mm) to western regions of the island. Telephone and power lines were damaged and around 8,000 people were evacuated in the Pinar del Río Province . According to Cuban television reports the coastal town of Surgidero de Batabanó was 90% underwater. Hurricane Katrina first made landfall between Hallandale Beach and Aventura, Florida on August 25. The storm dropped heavy rainfall in portions of

10120-634: The northwestern portion of the state, though none of them caused significant damage. Throughout the Florida Panhandle, the storm resulted in an estimated $ 100 million in damage. There were two indirect fatalities from Katrina in Walton County as a result of a traffic accident. In the Florida Panhandle, 77,000 customers lost power. Overall, the hurricane killed 14 people and caused at least $ 623 million in damage. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana , with 125 mph (200 km/h) winds, as

10235-548: The other and doors at each end of the house. It was the most popular style of house in the Southern United States from the end of the American Civil War (1861–65) through the 1920s. Alternative names include shotgun shack , shotgun hut , shotgun cottage , and in the case of a multihome dwelling, shotgun apartment ; the design is similar to that of railroad apartments . A longstanding theory

10350-462: The railroad yards at Simpson st. crossing, rent $ 12 a month to good tenants who pay in advance; price $ 1,200 on terms or $ 100 cash, balance $ 15 a month; a combination of investment and savings bank: these are not shacks, but good shot-gun houses in good repair." While this advertisement seems to present shotgun houses as a desirable working-class housing alternative, by 1929 a Tennessee court noted that shotgun houses could not be rented to any other than

10465-549: The shotgun shack to the Super Dome". Springsteen also references "shotgun shack" in "Reason to Believe" from his 1982 album Nebraska , with the line, "In a whitewashed shotgun shack, an old man passes away / they take his body to the graveyard, and over him, they pray." Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $ 125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in

10580-469: The site, many such structures consist of enclosed single or multiple units designed specifically for road transports, with multiple modules connected on site, and compact linear structures often employ multiple-use "zones" rather than specifically private areas, while retaining a linear progression of spaces. In 2011, Louisville's daily newspaper The Courier-Journal reported that a local nonprofit agency devoted to building and renovating affordable housing

10695-399: The site. The public reacted critically on social media, expressing that surface parking is already overabundant, and that historic building losses are already substantial downtown. The building was demolished in October 2021. Shotgun house A shotgun house is a narrow rectangular domestic residence, usually no more than about 12 feet (3.5 m) wide, with rooms arranged one behind

10810-562: The south. Elvis Presley was born in a shotgun house , Aaron Neville of The Neville Brothers grew up in one, and according to bluesman David Honeyboy Edwards , Robert Johnson died in one. Shortly before his death in May 1997, Jeff Buckley rented a shotgun house in Memphis and was so enamoured with it he contacted the owner about the possibility of buying it. Dream Brother , David Browne's biography of Jeff and Tim Buckley , opens with

10925-457: The state experienced power outages. Although Hurricane Katrina made landfall well to the west, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle were both affected by tropical-storm-force winds and a storm surge varying from 12 to 16 feet (3.7–4.9 m) around Mobile Bay , with higher waves on top. Sustained winds of 67 mph (108 km/h) were recorded in Mobile, Alabama , and the storm surge there

11040-479: The state government activated its Emergency Operations Center the next day, and local governments began issuing evacuation orders. By 6:00 p.m. CDT on August 28, 11 counties and cities issued evacuation orders, a number which increased to 41 counties and 61 cities by the following morning. Moreover, 57 emergency shelters were established on coastal communities, with 31 additional shelters available to open if needed. By Sunday, August 28, most infrastructure along

11155-446: The state line, and the eyewall passed over the cities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland as a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 120 mph (190 km/h). Katrina's powerful right-front quadrant passed over the west and central Mississippi coast, causing a powerful 27-foot (8.2 m) storm surge, which penetrated 6 miles (10 km) inland in many areas and up to 12 miles (19 km) inland along bays and rivers; in some areas,

11270-476: The state was approximately 15 inches (380 mm). As a result of the rainfall and storm surge the level of Lake Pontchartrain rose and caused significant flooding along its northeastern shore, affecting communities from Slidell to Mandeville . Several bridges were destroyed, including the I-10 Twin Span Bridge connecting Slidell to New Orleans. Almost 900,000 people in Louisiana lost power as

11385-515: The state's coast. One apartment complex with approximately thirty residents seeking shelter inside collapsed. More than half of the 13 casinos in the state, which were floated on barges to comply with Mississippi land-based gambling laws, were washed hundreds of yards inland by waves. A number of streets and bridges were washed away. On U.S. Highway 90 along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, two major bridges were completely destroyed:

11500-484: The storm came ashore. Some estimates claimed that 80% of the 1.3 million residents of the greater New Orleans metropolitan area evacuated, leaving behind substantially fewer people than remained in the city during the Hurricane Ivan evacuation. On August 29, 2005, Katrina's storm surge caused 53 breaches to various flood protection structures in and around the greater New Orleans area, submerging 80% of

11615-614: The surge crossed Interstate 10 for several miles. Hurricane Katrina brought strong winds to Mississippi, which caused significant tree damage throughout the state. The highest unofficial reported wind gust recorded from Katrina was one of 135 mph (217 km/h) in Poplarville , in Pearl River County . The storm also brought heavy rains with 8–10 inches (200–250 mm) falling in southwestern Mississippi and rain in excess of 4 inches (100 mm) falling throughout

11730-419: The term " shotgun " is a reference to the idea that if all the doors are opened, a shotgun blast fired into the house from the front doorway will fly cleanly to the other end and out at the back. Alternatively, folklorist and professor John Michael Vlach has suggested that the origin of the building style and the name itself may trace back to Haiti and Africa during the 18th century and earlier. Vlach claimed

11845-464: The term and the architectural form and development of the shotgun house are controversial, even more so in the wake of conflicting preservation and redevelopment efforts since Hurricane Katrina . New Orleans architectural historian Samuel Wilson, Jr. influentially suggested that shotgun-style houses originated in the Creole suburbs ( faubourgs ) of New Orleans in the early 1800s. He also stated that

11960-500: The tight space not ideal during COVID operating restrictions. The property owner planned to demolish the building. At the bar's closing announcement that February, Schiff stated he had no site plans, but aimed to use the space for seven parking spaces for now. The Columbus Downtown Commission approved the building's demolition in June 2021, following two engineer reports that supported demolition, despite no specific plan for new development on

12075-546: The time, only to be surpassed by Hurricanes Rita and Wilma later in the season; it was also the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico at the time, before Rita broke the record. The hurricane subsequently weakened due to another eyewall replacement cycle, and Katrina made its second landfall at 1110 UTC on August 29, as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph (201 km/h), near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana . At landfall, hurricane-force winds extended outward 120 miles (190 km) from

12190-418: The traditional shotgun and was used extensively in poorer areas because it could be built with fewer materials and use less land per occupant. It was first seen in New Orleans in 1854. A camelback house, also called humpback, is a variation of the shotgun that has a partial second floor over the rear of the house. Camelback houses were built in the later period of shotgun houses. The floor plan and construction

12305-423: The war, although the concept of a simple, single-level floor plan lived on in ranch-style houses . The surviving urban shotgun houses suffered problems related to those typically facing the inner city neighborhoods in which they were located. The flight of affluent residents to the suburbs, absentee owners, and a shortage of mortgage lenders for inner-city residents led to the deterioration of shotgun houses in

12420-689: The water or sun for days before being collected, hindered efforts by coroners to identify many of the dead. The first deaths reported from the city were reported shortly before midnight on August 28, as three nursing home patients died during an evacuation to Baton Rouge , most likely from dehydration. An estimated 215 bodies were found in nursing homes and hospitals in New Orleans, the largest number being at Memorial Medical Center where 45 corpses were recovered. Some 200 patients at Charity Hospital were not evacuated until Friday, September 2, having been without power or fresh water for five days. While there were also early reports of fatalities amid mayhem at

12535-542: Was approximately 12 feet (3.7 m). The surge caused significant flooding several miles inland along Mobile Bay. Four tornadoes were also reported in Alabama. Ships, oil rigs, boats and fishing piers were washed ashore along Mobile Bay: the cargo ship M/V Caribbean Clipper and many fishing boats were grounded at Bayou La Batre . An oil rig under construction along the Mobile River broke its moorings and floated 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwards before striking

12650-426: Was building new shotgun houses in a development in southwest Louisville. The shotgun house plays a large role in the folklore and culture of the south. Superstition holds that ghosts and spirits are attracted to shotgun houses because they may pass straight through them, and that some houses were built with doors intentionally misaligned to deter these spirits. They also often serve as a convenient symbol of life in

12765-472: Was designed and built by the Orleans Levee Board . The search for the missing was undertaken by the St. Bernard Fire Department because of the assets of the United States Coast Guard being diverted to New Orleans. In the months after the storm, many of the missing were tracked down by searching flooded homes, tracking credit card records, and visiting homes of family and relatives. According to

12880-454: Was downgraded to a tropical depression near Clarksville, Tennessee ; its remnants were absorbed by a cold front in the eastern Great Lakes region on August 31. The resulting extratropical storm moved rapidly to the northeast and affected eastern Canada. The United States Coast Guard began pre-positioning resources in a ring around the expected impact zone and activated more than 400 reservists. On August 27, it moved its personnel out of

12995-544: Was due to a vehicle accident, one occurred during debris cleanup, and one was associated with a lack of electricity. Significant impacts were also reported in the Florida Panhandle . Although Katrina moved ashore in Louisiana and Mississippi, its outer periphery produced a 5.37 ft (1.64 m) storm surge in Pensacola . High waves caused beach erosion and closed nearby roadways. There were five tornadoes in

13110-406: Was only natural they modeled the new homes after ones they left behind in their homeland. Many surviving Haitian dwellings of the period, including about 15 percent of the housing stock of Port-au-Prince , resemble the single shotgun houses of New Orleans. The shotgun house was popularized in New Orleans, and, as Fred Kniffen documented in a statewide survey of Louisiana house types in the 1930s,

13225-433: Was opened. All three coastal counties of the state were severely affected by the storm. Katrina's surge was the most extensive, as well as the highest, in the documented history of the United States; large portions of Hancock , Harrison , and Jackson counties were inundated by the storm surge, in all three cases affecting most of the populated areas. Surge covered almost the entire lower half of Hancock County, destroying

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