Hurricane Katrina was one the deadliest and costliest hurricanes in US history. The storm first struck the Atlantic Coast of Florida as a minor hurricane on August 25, 2005. The storm rapidly intensified over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, growing from a Category 3 to a Category 5 hurricane in just nine hours. The greater New Orleans area received a direct hit on August 29. Storm surges proved too powerful for the ailing levee and floodwall system surrounding the city and neighboring parishes, with multiple breaches causing major flooding across the central Gulf Coast region. Eighty percent of New Orleans was submerged. Residents in affected areas who did not previously evacuate found themselves trapped in their homes without food, water, or electricity. Many did not survive. At least 1,836 people died in the hurricane and subsequent flooding. More than a million more people were displaced, creating one of the largest diasporas in US history. Many evacuees came to Houston. Some 60,000 stayed in the Astrodome until the threat of Hurricane Rita forced them to relocate once again. 

 

The engineering failure of the levee system and the delayed government response made local, state, and federal officials the subject of intense public criticism following the storm, raising questions about not only emergency management policy but also institutional race and class discrimination.