The Hurricane Katrina began as a very low pressure weather system, which strengthened to become a tropical storm and eventually evolved into a hurricane as it moved west and neared the Florida coast on the evening of 25 August.
After crossing southern Florida – where it left at least 100,000 homes without power – it strengthened further before turning inland towards Louisiana, eventually reaching Grand Isle, approximately 90 kilometers south of New Orleans.
At this point, Katrina’s wind speed was approximately 200 km/h. The storm passed directly through New Orleans, and it destroyed many lighter buildings and caused extensive damage to others.
Hurricane force winds were recorded along a 200km stretch of coastline, with scenes of similar flooding and destruction in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. Storm surges from the sea caused flooding several kilometres inland in some places.