Hurricane Katrina remembered 20 years after historic strike on Gulf Coast

NEW ORLEANS - Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina roared ashore on the bluish Gulf Coast, becoming 1 of the deadliest and astir destructive earthy disasters successful U.S. history.

The Category 3 hurricane devastated Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, starring to much than 1,000 deaths and much than $100 cardinal successful damage.

The cyclone archetypal developed connected Aug. 23, 2005, arsenic a tropical slump implicit the southeastern Bahamas and, wrong a day, strengthened into Tropical Storm Katrina earlier moving toward Florida. 

Due to the lukewarm waters of the Gulf Stream, Katrina rapidly organized and made landfall adjacent the Miami-Dade and Broward County enactment arsenic a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 80 mph.

The humanities hurricane way of Katrina successful 2005.

(NOAA, Office for Coastal Management, DigitalCoast / FOX Weather)

The tempest did not suffer overmuch enactment implicit the Florida Peninsula and, erstwhile implicit the lukewarm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, it underwent explosive accelerated intensification. 

Within 72 hours, Katrina became a Category 5 hurricane with highest sustained winds of 175 mph and a cardinal unit of 902 millibars.

Equally arsenic awesome was its size, with NOAA estimating Katrina was astir 800 miles wide and covered overmuch of the Gulf.

"It was frightening beyond words," FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross recounted. "A meteorologist astatine the National Weather Service successful New Orleans wrote this epic informing that neighborhoods are going to beryllium unlivable for a agelong play of time."

Hurricane Katrina outer (2005)

(NOAA)

WHY A STATE IS ASKING FOR HELP LOCATING AN ELUSIVE REPTILE

Forecasters accidental owed to an eyewall replacement cycle, a process that almighty hurricanes acquisition to reorganize, Katrina weakened to a Category 3 earlier landfall. It came onshore astatine 6:10 a.m. section clip connected Aug. 29, 2005, adjacent the rima of the Mississippi River adjacent Buras, Louisiana. 

Despite the hurricane’s weakening, its wide size and presumption connected the Saffir Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale produced a tempest surge of what was reminiscent of a Category 4 oregon Category 5 hurricane crossed overmuch of the bluish Gulf Coast.

Along the Mississippi coast, surge levels reached astir 28 feet successful Pass Christian, leveling coastal neighborhoods. 

While New Orleans was connected what was considered to beryllium the weaker broadside of the storm, the operation of rainfall and surge overwhelmed levee systems and wrong 48 hours of landfall, authorities estimated that 80% of the Big Easy was underwater, displacing hundreds of thousands of residents.

Government assessments estimated that 1.5 cardinal radical were displaced crossed the region, galore of whom ne'er returned.

"If the flood walls had held, it would person been a tremendously antithetic outcome, due to the fact that the h2o wouldn't travel implicit the walls," said Norcross.

Damage was initially estimated astatine $108 billion, making Katrina the costliest hurricane successful U.S. past astatine the time, surpassing 1992’s Hurricane Andrew. 

Adjusted for inflation, NOAA estimates the 2024 worth of harm caused by the tempest to beryllium northbound of $201 billion.

The storm’s decease toll besides ranks among the 10 deadliest hurricanes successful U.S. history. 

While the authoritative number stands astatine 1,392, discrepancies successful aesculapian records and incomplete reporting person led to statement implicit the nonstop number. 

Katrina is considered the deadliest hurricane to onslaught the continental United States since the 1928 "Okeechobee Hurricane" successful Florida.

AMTRAK’S GULF COAST ROUTE RESTORED 20 YEARS AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA

In airy of the demolition and mislaid lives, the World Meteorological Organization retired the sanction Katrina successful April 2006, replacing it with Katia, which was utilized to sanction storms successful 2011, 2017, 2023 and is connected platform to beryllium utilized again successful 2029. 

Additional names removed aft the record-breaking 2005 play included Dennis, Rita, Stan and Wilma.

The national government’s response, peculiarly that of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, came nether sharp disapproval successful Katrina’s wake. 

Then-FEMA manager Michael D. Brown resigned successful the storm’s aftermath amid wide backlash implicit reported mismanagement and mediocre communication. 

The bureau aboriginal underwent respective large reorganizations and was credited with improved responses to aboriginal disasters, specified arsenic Hurricane Irene successful 2011 and Hurricane Sandy successful 2012.

For communities on the Gulf Coast, Katrina remains a solemn reminder of however a near-worst-case catastrophe tin go reality.

"In those neighborhoods - successful the Ninth Ward, successful Gentilly, successful bluish Lakeview, the areas up by the water - galore homes that flooded were abandoned erstwhile radical had to determination out. Now, 20 years later, they’re inactive sitting there, empty, filled with mold and truthful distant inside," said Norcross.

The tracks of 2005's 5 retired hurricanes: Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan and Wilma.

(FOX Weather)