In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina vigorously devastated the Gulf Coast region of the United States, killing at least 1,500 people, ranking it as the third deadliest hurricane in U.S. history. The author of Survival and Death in New Orleans, Patrick Sharkey (2007), specifically examined data on New Orleans residents who died during Katrina, in an effort to examine the communities most affected by this unfortunate disaster. The storm took its greatest toll on the elderly population and African Americans, who he said were overrepresented compared to whites. The toll has been not only physically damaging but also mentally, due to the enormous amount of loss suffered from their homes, family members, pets and the neighborhoods in which they grew up. Evidence from Ismail White's (2007) study entitled Feeling the Pain of my People concluded that African Americans believed that the federal government's response to the hurricane was insufficient and so insufficient that if the victims had been white, the government would have acted otherwise. Thus, suggested traditions of economic and racial segregation have misrepresented segments of urban neighborhoods that have been isolated from resources, political influence, and economic gain and are therefore more susceptible to disasters, such as Katrina. The images of New Orleans residents stranded across the city left a lasting impact on those who followed the media coverage, suggesting that the storm's damage was seen as anything but a natural disaster. “Katrina has been interpreted by some as a “metaphor” for the inequality that pervades urban America, most directly affecting poor, primarily black segments of the urban population” (Sharkey 2007: 483). African Americans... at the center of the card... a separation due to race, but in fact due to environmental justice. Therefore there is no substantial amount of evidence to support the claims of any of the authors. The studies lacked evidentiary support in both reports, such as the correct number of deaths, and had insufficient samples that were not directly affected and could have been influenced by media response or prior opinion. While examples like the bridge incident included racism towards New Orleans residents, it did not specify the race or ethnicity of what type of people were prohibited from crossing the bridge to safety, but instead excluded everyone. Perhaps then the problem is not simply race, but above all the geological, economic and social inequality that led those citizens to feel like the target of a tragic disaster that changed their way of life forever...