In a catastrophic event that unfolded as America watched, the Gulf Coast was smashed by Hurricane Katrina 10 years ago on August 29, 2005. Mississippi communities Waveland, Pass Christian, Pascagoula and Biloxi were scoured from the map. Oil platforms and elevated highways were destroyed. Louisiana’s crown jewel, New Orleans, suffered mightily.
Beginning about August 23, the Category 3 storm built up a head before finally sweeping six days later through Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf Coast. Its massive storm surge of pushed-up sea water entered the city of New Orleans. Critical levees broke and canals spilled into neighborhoods. The flooding continued long after the hurricane had passed. Almost 300 people died in the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans East and nearby St. Bernard Parish alone. Bodies of 700 people would be discovered in the city over the ensuing weeks. Overall, at least 1,800 people from the city and Gulf area lost their lives during the event.
A mandatory evacuation of New Orleans had been ordered, but many residents were trapped in their homes as the flooding rose too fast for them to escape.
In the photo above, Colorado rescuers assisted in searching flooded homes for survivors. John Saito of West Metro Fire Station in Golden used his ax to climb atop a home while conducting a primary search in the Dahlman neighborhood of New Orleans. At left is Steve Aseltine, also of West Metro and at right is BM2 Michael Bull of the U.S. Coast Guard, who supplied security for the team. The members of the Colorado Urban Search and Rescue went to New Orleans to help evacuate residents in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Denver Post photographer Craig F. Walker was on scene.
Hurricane Katrina caused $108 billion in damages. It is thought 100,000 homes were lost.
The photos are amazing to look at 10 years later, as the massive scale of the disaster is displayed again.
Hundreds of citizens took refuge in New Orleans’ Superdome football stadium and awaited help. It seemed slow to arrive. Little drinking water was available to them and oppressive heat and humidity were constants. Families were helpless for days, trapped, as all surrounding streets and highways were flooded.
Federal and local government response was severely criticized in the aftermath of the disaster, the worst the U.S. had ever seen. But mobilized troops brought food, potable water and order to the streets of New Orleans. The city was by no means the only community victim of the storm. It was, and still is, simply the most iconic and photographed example of an American catastrophe.