Hurricane Katrina

Conditions at the time

Katrina formed near the Bahamas, crossed Florida and then intensified over the Gulf of Mexico.

How events unfolded

Its 8/29 landfall on the US Gulf Coast caused extensive damage in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Stakeholders and impacts

Coastal residents, local businesses, insurers and disaster-response institutions bore damage and recovery burdens.

Information available at the time

It strengthened to category 5 before landfall but was category 3 when it reached the northern Gulf Coast.

Findings confirmed later

Levee failures in New Orleans were recorded as a factor increasing loss of life and property.

Alternative interpretations and limitations

Distinguish insurance and refining impacts from meteorological intensity; damage amounts and death counts may change as material is updated.

Source-based context and interpretation

The US weather-service retrospective records severe surge and flooding after Katrina made landfall below its offshore peak intensity. Levee failures worsened inundation in New Orleans. Widespread flooding and regional damage could not be explained by wind category alone. ASSETCASTING interpretation: A lower category before landfall does not mean danger has disappeared. Examine wind, surge, protection infrastructure and exposure together; the meteorological record alone does not determine individual liability or subsequent reconstruction and economic recovery.

Evidence coverage through 2005-08-31 · Sources checked 2026-10-14

• Hurricane Katrina - August 2005 ↗

Related events and periods1

• Trade and credit expansion with accumulating financial imbalances →

  An event or period whose recorded start falls within this editorial interval. This does not establish that it caused or represents the characteristics of the era, nor guarantee that the entire period falls within the interval.