On This Day: Katrina devastates New Orleans

It was On This Day in 2005 – just 10 years ago now – that New Orleans was struck by Hurricane Katrina. It was – and remains – the worst natural disaster in the history of the

United States

. By the time it made landfall, it had reached a Category 5 status.

Despite a mandatory evacuation order, thousands of people remained. They either did not want to leave their homes or simply did not have the resources to leave. Those stranded behind had to deal with not only the actual natural disaster, but also the worst of humanity came out among the survivors. There was looting and murder. There were numerous rapes and other violent crimes against each other.

More than 1,300 deaths were contributed to Katrina. There was an estimated $150 billon in damages to both public and private property. Millions were displaced and the coast line of Louisiana changed forever.

Source

Hurricane Katrina slams into Gulf. History.com 29 August 2005.

Photo:
Public domain photo from Wikipedia.

On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.

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