Katrina

Hurricane Katrina is one of deadliest storms to hit the U.S Coast. It ripped through the Gulf Coast in 2005 and became the largest hurricane to hit the United States. Major damage was done to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Due to the hurricane, 1836 lives were lost and more than $89.6 billion in damage was caused. The oil and forest industries suffered a major blow with interruption in oil supply and loss to the forest industry amounting to $5 billion. Katrina is the costliest hurricane of U.S. history.

Due to a tropical wave and the remains of a Tropical Depression 10, Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005. It then upgraded to a tropical storm on the 24^th, from where it moved to Florida as category 1. After weakening over land, it gained intensity as it moved to the Gulf of Mexico. On the 28^th it grew from a category 3 to a category 5 hurricane with winds up to 160 mph which caused severe damage along the Gulf Coast. The pressure measurement recorded Katrina as the fourth most intense hurricane.  On the early hours of August 29^th the storm weakened and was classified as a category 4 storm. Moving slowly at 12 mph with wind blowing at 155 mph, Katrina caused far greater damage than a fast moving storm would have done.

The main reason for the great loss of life and property in New Orleans was the failure of its levee system due to the system design flaws and lack of maintenance. Nearly every levee in New Orleans was broken or ruptured which caused the flooding of 80% of the city.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/hurricane-katrina-facts-and-information.html