Storm that shook the world, destroyed a city and claimed 1,800 lives
It was the storm that shook the world. Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath claimed more than 1,800 lives, and ranked as the costliest natural disaster in US history.
The storm was the 12th tropical cyclone, the fifth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, as well as the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record to reach North America.
The storm surfaced on August 23, as a tropical depression over the Bahamas.
Over the next two days it gathered strength, and made landfall between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a category 1 hurricane.
Winds of 70mph battered the Florida peninsula, and the storm quickly intensified when it reached the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Within days, Katrina became a category 4 hurricane and one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, with winds in excess of 170mph, devastating homes and resorts.
In New Orleans, where much of the greater metropolitan area is below sea level, federal officials initially believed that the city had “dodged the bullet” but the levee system that held back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne had been completely overwhelmed by rain. Within days80%oftheareawas under water.
Up to 1.2 million people were evacuated ahead of the storm. However, tens of thousands of residents could not or would not leave. They either remained in their homes or sought shelter wherever they could, such as in the New Orleans Convention Center or the Louisiana Superdome.
Many local agencies found themselves unable to respond to the increasingly desperate situation, as their own headquarters and control centres were under 20ft of water.
With no relief in sight and in the absence of any organised effort to restore order, some neighbourhoods experienced substantial amounts of looting, and helicopters were used to rescue residents from rooftops.
On August 31 the first wave of evacuees arrived at the Red Cross shelter in Houston, Texas, but tens of thousands remained in their home city. The following day, an estimated 30,000 people were seeking shelter under the damaged roof of the Superdome, and an additional 25,000 had gathered at the Convention Center. Shortages of food and water quickly became an issue.
An absence of basic sanitation combined with bacteria-rich floodwaters created a public health emergency. It was not
until September 2 that an effective military presence was established in the city and National Guard troops mobilized to distribute food and water.
On September 6, local police estimated that there were fewer than 10,000 residents left in New Orleans. As the recovery began, dozens of countries contributed funds and supplies, and Canada and Mexico deployed troops to the Gulf Coast to assist with the clean-up and rebuilding.
US Army engineers pumped the last of the floodwaters out of the city on October 11, 43 days after Katrina made landfall.
Ultimately, the storm caused more than $160 billion in damage, and the population of New Orleans fell by 29% between the winter of 2005 and 2011.