U of I professor studies disasters, shares Hurricane Katrina findings

CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — This August marks 20 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated communities in the Southeastern United States. In the wake of that disaster, a University of Illinois professor has been researching the impact the hurricane had on our lives and economies.

Hurricane Katrina left more than 1,800 dead and more than $125 billion in damages. With Hurricane Erin brewing between the Bermuda and mainland U.S., WCIA is taking a look back at one of the worst natural disasters of our lifetime.

WCIA 3’s Brandon Merano sat down with Professor Tatyana Deryugina, an associate professor of finance at Gies College of Business, to talk about her research on the hurricane, and the impacts it had on people in the area.

Deryugina said part of what made Hurricane Katrina so devastating was that some of the infrastructure that was supposed to protect New Orleans failed.

“The levees failed, flooding the city which lies below sea level. And the flood waters killed a lot of people and caused immense damage to the city,” Deryugina said.

A lot of the damage is still visible today. But, Deryugina said the research did find that some silver linings came out of the disaster. Her research found that people are resilient — both in terms of livelihoods and their mortality.

“We found that people actually lived longer and earned more money as a result of the hurricane,” Deryugina said.

This is because the hurricane displaced people from New Orleans and many of them moved to area with higher wages lower mortality rates.

Deryugina also warned that we are not better prepared to handle natural disaster today than we were 20 years ago.

“A lot of our infrastructure is aging and is in very poor shape. It needs maintenance. and with climate change, we actually need more infrastructure to protect against the more severe disasters that we can expect going forward,” Deryugina warned.

There are a couple of things Illinois can improve upon: this includes things like wetlands and levees and better stormwater management systems.

You can read more about Deryugina’s research online.