New Orleans and Gulf Coast Flooding in the Aftermath of Katrina

Biloxi, Mississippi was one of the communities hardest hit when Hurricane Katrina came ashore on August 29, 2005. Large sections of this seaside city were almost entirely flattened in the storm’s powerful surge. The top QuickBird image, taken on August 31, shows extensive damage in the blocks nearest the shore. Within two city blocks, two floating casinos—the Island of Capri Casino and the Grand Casino Biloxi—have disappeared. The Island of Capri Casino has been carried inland and now sits in the parking lot that was across the street. It is one of the few buildings that retains its structure. All of the houses in the region are gone, replaced by a broad field of debris. In the large image, the Biloxi Ocean Springs Bridge has been washed away, leaving only the pylons that once supported it.

The lower image shows the community on April 12, 2005. The satellite was nearly directly overhead when this image was taken, providing a slightly different perspective than the August 31 image, in which the city is viewed from an angle. The difference is most notable in the high-rise buildings, the sides of which are visible in the top image, but not visible in the lower image. The top image is also slightly rotated in comparison the lower image, so that streets run on an angle instead of perpendicular to the lower edge of the image. Credit: Images copyright Digital Globe .

Aftermath - Continues

President Bush during a briefing on damage from Hurricane Katrina in Mobile, Ala.

A fire on the east side of New Orleans, La

Homes are surrounded by floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina as fires burn near downtown New Orleans.

NASA - Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans

Hurricane Katrina left holes in the roof of the Vertical Assembly Building at the Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. The Shuttle External Tank inside, right, appears to have suffered no significant damage

Post katrina

A western clothing store (L) is badly damaged while a restaurant next door remains intact after Hurricane Katrina hit Gulfport, Mississippi August 29, 2005. Hurricane Katrina ripped into the U.S. Gulf Coast on Monday, stranding people on rooftops as it pummeled the historic jazz city New Orleans with 100 mph (160 kph) winds and swamped Mississippi resort towns and lowlands with a crushing surge of seawater.

An oil rig that broke loose during Hurricane Katrina is wedged under the Cochrane Bridge in Mobile, Alabama. The rig tore free of its moorings as Hurricane Katrina lashed the Alabama coast before surging downriver and smashing into the suspension bridge

The roof of the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans was shredded by strong winds of Hurricane Katrina as it battered the Crescent City on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005.

Danger Coming -2

Hurricane Katrina left much destruction in her wake in South Florida killing as many as nine persons and causing upwards of $600 million dollars in estimated damage. And she was only a Category 1 when she struck South Florida. Gaining strength as she blows across the warm Gulf of Mexico Katrina is currently a Category 3 and experts are warning that by the time she reaches land on Monday, she may be a full blown Category Four storm. At 8 a.m. Saturday, the eye of the hurricane was located about 180 miles west of Key West or about 430 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. It was moving west at nearly 7 mph



Hurricane Katrina had just become a category 1 hurricane when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image on August 25, 2005, at 12:30 p.m., Eastern Daylight Savings Time. The hurricane formed as a tropical depression late on August 23 and developed quickly into a tropical storm by 11 a.m. the next morning. By the time MODIS acquired this image, the storm continued to develop into a category 1 hurricane, the lowest strength category in the hurricane strength scale. Katrina had winds of 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour).

Danger Coming -1

Hurricane Katrina turned slightly eastward before slamming into shore redirecting the storm's most potent winds and rain away from the vulnerable, low lying New Orleans area. Katrina weakened slightly overnight to a Category 4 storm and her eastward movement put the western eyewall - the weaker side of the strongest winds - over New Orleans. This doesn't mean New Orleans has been spared her wrath completely, the city is still getting hit with 145 mph winds today and the possibility of a 20 foot storm surge.

Katrina, which cut across Florida last week leaving nine dead and massive damage, had intensified into a Category 5 storm over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, reaching top winds of 175 mph before weakening as it neared the coast.



Hurricane Katrina strengthened into a powerful Category Five hurricane overnight with sustained winds of 160 mph. The National Hurricane Center put out a special advisory on the hurricane's gain in strength just before 8 a.m. EDT. The boost came just hours after Katrina reached Category 4, with wind of 145 mph, as it gathered energy from the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico.

According to the National Hurricane Center, a Category Five hurricane causes storm surges generally greater than 18 ft above normal, complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. All shrubs, trees, and signs are blown down. Severe and extensive window and door damage can occur. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of all structures located less than 15 ft above sea level and within 500 yards of the shoreline occurs and massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5-10 miles (8-16 km) of the shoreline may be required. This is especially essential in the New Orleans area where most of the city lies below sea level and exists with the help of levees and pumps. To date, only 3 Category Five Hurricanes have made landfall in the United States since records began.