Hurricane Katrinas powerful winds, storm surge, and subsequent flooding destroyed communities and infrastructure along the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina also produced very significant storm surges approximately ten feet high as far east as Mobile, Alabama, where it caused flooding several miles inland along Mobile Bay. Surge waters flooded over six miles inland in many parts of coastal Mississippi and up to twelve miles inland along rivers and bays. 5 According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Katrina produced a storm surge as high as twenty-seven feet in Louisiana and Mississippi. Hurricane Katrina generated violent waves and a massive storm surge before colliding with the Gulf Coast. 3 Six hours later, as it passed northwest of Meridian, Mississippi, Hurricane Katrina was further downgraded to a tropical storm.

2 The storm rapidly lost strength as it pushed inland through southern and central Mississippi by 1:00 pm cdt, it had weakened to a Category 1 hurricane. At the time, Hurricane Katrina had sustained winds over 115 mph and reported gusts as high as 130 mph. The massive storm continued to move north, rolling over portions of the Louisiana coast before its eye came ashore near the mouth of the Pearl River in Mississippi. Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a powerful Category 3 storm at 6:10 am CDT on Monday, August 29 in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Chapter Four: A Week of Crisis (August 29 - September 5) Eastward from Lake Pontchartrain, across the Mississippi coast, to Alabama into Florida, millions of lives wereĬhanged in a day by a cruel and wasteful storm.

Mosquitoes in texas hurricane aftermath