Remembering Hurricane Katrina 19 years ago

AccuWeather

It was 19 years ago that catastrophic Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans after making landfall in August 2005. Here's a look back at how the storm forever changed the landscape of the city.

Transcript

00:00When the water was coming over the Mississippi River, let it crash, and away it's coming over the levee, and then we knew it was no way out.

00:06On August 23, 2005, a storm of historic proportions was born.

00:11It's name, Katrina.

00:13After making its first landfall in Florida as a Category 1 storm, Katrina advanced into the Gulf of Mexico,

00:18where it underwent rapid intensification, strengthening into a monstrous Category 5 storm.

00:24And on August 29, Katrina made its second landfall as a high-end Category 3 hurricane in Burris, Louisiana,

00:31about 60 miles south of New Orleans.

00:35With ferocious winds of 125 miles per hour, Katrina tore through the southern Louisiana and Mississippi coast,

00:41yet its catastrophic storm surged New Orleans that etches Katrina in our memories.

00:46Dozens of levees were breached, inundating the city.

00:49Highways were transformed into raging rivers, and entire neighborhoods were submerged beneath relentless floodwaters.

00:56Eighty percent of the city was left underwater.

00:59The nightmare was unimaginable for those who didn't or couldn't evacuate.

01:04Countless people were stranded on rooftops for hours and days, desperately waiting for rescue.

01:09Hurricane Katrina claimed nearly 1,400 lives, making it one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history.

01:15The storm, which caused an estimated $125 billion in damage, forced hundreds of thousands from their homes,

01:21resulting in one of the largest internal displacements in American history.

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