Hurricane Katrina: The Anniversary

Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 3 storm on August 29, 2005. Over 1800 lost their lives in the storm, and Katrina ultimately caused over $80 billion of damage. New Orleans, where several levees failed to contain rising waters from the storm, bore the worst of the devastation. Hurricane Katrina left much of the city under water with water approximately 12 feet high in some areas. Officials had called for a mandatory evacuation, but many resident remained in the city and had to be rescued from flooded homes and hotels. This photo shows two men paddling in high water in New Orleans, Aug. 31, 2005.

AP Photo/Dallas Morning News/Smiley N. Pool

This aerial photo shows high water still covering entire neighborhoods in New Orleans, Sept. 5, 2005, a week after Hurricane Katrina hit the area.

Men ride in a boat in high water past Flood Street after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area Aug. 31, 2005, in New Orleans.

A police officer keeps watch as people walk through flooded streets in downtown New Orleans on Aug. 31, 2005.

Stephen Smith and Terry Panquerne, rear, push a small boat and a bicycle through floodwaters in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans, Sept. 5, 2005. The two were going through the neighborhood feeding their friends, the animals. Some rescuers decided to quit taking food and water to those who have chosen to stay in an effort to force them out.

People sit stranded on a roof in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Aug. 30, 2005, in New Orleans.

People walk through high water after flooding forced them from their homes Aug. 31, 2005, in New Orleans.

New Orleans police and volunteers use boats to rescue residents from a flooded neighborhood on the east side of of the city, Aug. 31, 2005.

Sgt. Robert Stanley, of 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment from Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne Division, patrols the flooded streets of the French Quarter of New Orleans, Sept. 4, 2005.

Sherilyn Claverie of New Orleans walks past a partially submerged car on a flooded street in the city, Sept. 5, 2005.

Floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina cover a portion of New Orleans on Aug. 30, 2005, a day after Katrina passed through the city.

One of New Orleans' famed cemeteries is filled with flood waters in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Aug. 31, 2005.

Armed police officers patrol the flood waters in New Orleans, Sept. 5, 2005.

In this combination picture made available on Aug. 31, 2005, by Orbimage, the New Orleans Superdome is shown on Sept. 17, 2004, (left), and on Aug. 29, 2005, the day after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, showing extensive flooding in the city.

President George W. Bush looks out the window of Air Force One over New Orleans on Aug. 31, 2005, to survey the damage from Hurricane Katrina.

A hurricane evacuation route sign is still nearly underwater along Canal Street in New Orleans, Sept. 4, 2005. Officials continued to rescue flood victims stranded in their homes a week after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area.