Hurricane Katrina

A devastating catastrophe.

Hurricane Katrina, which ranks among the most destructive storms in U.S. history, formed in late August 2005 and had a profound impact on the Gulf Coast. It first made landfall in southern Florida as a Category 1 hurricane, but quickly gained strength over the Gulf of Mexico, eventually becoming a Category 5. By the time it hit Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, it had weakened to a Category 3, but the damage was still catastrophic. The storm’s path, shown on the map, traces its destructive course from the Bahamas until it finally dissipated over land.

Paul Morse/The White House

The failure of the levee system after the storm's landfall resulted in catastrophic flooding across the region, particularly in New Orleans. Families were stranded on rooftops, and rescue efforts stretched for days as the rising waters turned entire communities into isolated islands. This scene is a stark reminder of the immense power of the storm and the long-lasting impact on those who lived through it.

This map shows where Katrina started which was the Bahamas, where it was the strongest and the length of how long it was as a category 5 which is represented by the red line and the location symbol on New Orleans and where it faded out which was in central Ohio.

Paul Morse/The White House