Early in the morning on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina
struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. When the storm made
landfall, it had a Category 3 rating on the Saffir-Simpson
Hurricane Scale--it brought sustained winds of 100–140 miles per
hour--and stretched some 400 miles across. The storm itself did
a great deal of damage, but its aftermath was catastrophic.
Levee breaches led to massive flooding, and many people charged
that the federal government was slow to meet the needs of the
people affected by the storm. Hundreds of thousands of people in
Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were displaced from their
homes, and experts estimate that Katrina caused more than $100
billion in damage. - Hurricane Katrina: Before the Storm -
Hurricane Katrina: Storm and Flooding - Hurricane Katrina: The
Aftermath Hurricane Katrina: Before the Storm The tropical
depression that became Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas
on August 23, 2005, and meteorologists were soon able to warn
people in the Gulf Coast state