"Hurricane Katrian" Department of Homeland Security Polo Shirt
name: label: maker
content: Vantage Apparel
notes: label: Description
content: This dark blue polo shirt was made for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel who were responding to the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. Hitting on August 29, 2005, Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes the U.S. has experienced. It left at least 1,300 people dead and hundreds of thousands homeless. When the levees broke, 80% of New Orleans was flooded, causing $80 billion worth of damage. The response by governmental agencies such as the DHS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was criticized as inadequate by hurricane victims, the press, scholars, and Congressional investigations. Critics argued that governmental agencies had been unprepared for a hurricane of this magnitude and slow to respond when it did occur; moreover, some victims who had been rescued by governmental agencies died because they were not provided with food or water. Race and accusations of racism were a major factor in discussions of the hurricane; New Orleans had a large African-American community which was devastated in the aftermath of Katrina.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Pakistan
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of the Federal Emergency Management Agency through Illyan Wallace
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2012.3034.02
label: catalog number
content: 2012.3034.02
label: accession number
content: 2012.3034
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Polo shirt
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: dark blue (overall color)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 34 in x 44 in x 3/4 in; 86.36 cm x 111.76 cm x 1.905 cm