Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that killed 1,392 people and caused damage estimated at $125 billion, particularly in and around the city of New Orleans, in late August 2005. 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, the third major hurricane, and the second Category 5 hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was also the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States, as measured by barometric pressure. Katrina formed on August 23, 2005, with the merger of a tropical wave and the remnants of a tropical depression. After briefly strengthening to a tropical storm over south Florida, Katrina entered the Gulf of Mexico on August 26 and rapidly intensified to a Category 5 hurricane before weakening to a Category 3 at its landfall on August 29 near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana. Eighty percent of New Orleans, as well as large areas in neighboring parishes, were flooded. It is estimated that about 100,000 to 150,000 people remained in the City of New Orleans, despite mandatory evacuation orders. The flooding prompted a massive national and international response effort, including federal, local, and private rescue operations. The largest loss of life was due to flooding caused by engineering flaws in the federally built hurricane protection system, particularly the levees around New Orleans. Investigators concluded that the U . Army Corps of Engineers, tasked by Congress in the Flood Control Act of 1965 to design and build the region's hurricane protection, was responsible for the breached floodwalls. Later, a federal appeals court ruled that the Army Corps, despite being responsible, could not be held financially liable due to 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 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. The destruction and loss of life caused by the storm prompted the name Katrina to be retired by the World Meteorological Organization in April 2006. On January 4, 2023, the NHC updated the Katrina fatality data on the basis of a 2014 report, which reduced the total number from an estimated 1,833 to 1,392.