HURRICANE KATRINA — MOST DESTRUCTIVE HURRICANE EVER TO STRIKE THE U.S.

On August 28, 2005, Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico where it powered up to a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale packing winds estimated at 175 mph.

At 7:10 a.m. EDT on August 29, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southern Plaquemines Parish Louisiana, just south of Buras, as a Category 3 hurricane. Maximum winds were estimated near 125 mph to the east of the center.

Although Katrina will be recorded as the most destructive storm in terms of economic losses, it did not exceed the human losses in storms such as the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed as many as 6,000-12,000 people, and led to almost complete destruction of coastal Galveston. (Click image on left for high resolution version.)

Hurricane Andrew, in 1992, cost approximately $21 billion in insured losses (in today's dollars), whereas estimates from the insurance industry as of late August 2006, have reached approximately $60 billion in insured losses (including flood damage) from Katrina. The storm could cost the Gulf Coast states as much as an estimated $125 billion.

Hundreds of NOAA employees from many divisions of the agency were involved with Hurricane Katrina, which involved forecasting the storm; surveying and clearing waterways; responding to oil and chemical spills; and testing fisheries.

During the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, the NOAA P-3 turboprop aircraft flew around and into 11 named storms—including Katrina—accounting for 73 missions, which translates into 480 flight hours. The P-3s also flew into the eyewall of the storms 109 times.

NOAA’s Gulfstream IV jet flew 50 missions, for a total 389 flight hours.

NOAA’s Citation aircraft flew 50 aerial photography missions after Hurricanes Katrina, Ophelia and Rita, which amounted to 105 flight hours and thousands of high resolution photos of the storms’ damage.