Deseret News archives: Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed New Orleans, and the world witnessed it
On Aug. 29, 2005, Category 3 storm overwhelmed the Louisiana coast. The costs are still being tallied
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This Aug. 31, 2005, file photo shows a man pushing his bicycle through floodwaters near the Superdome in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina left much of the city underwater. Eric Gay, Associated Press
Chris is assistant editor with the Politics and the West team, and also writes a daily Deseret News archives story.
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Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Aug. 29, 2024.
A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana, breaching levees and spurring floods that devastated New Orleans.
The costliest storm in U.S. history, Katrina caused nearly 1,400 deaths and an estimated $200 billion in damage. Previously a Category 5, but it was a Category 3 storm when it inundated the Louisiana coast as well as parts of Mississippi and Florida.
Photos told the story, at least initially. But telling the tales of Katrina became the job of journalists all over the nation and world. And they did an evocative job.
In this Sept. 2, 2005, file photo, President George W. Bush embraces Ella Glavan of Biloxi, Miss., during a walking tour of a Biloxi neighborhood devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Bush toured Gulf Coast communities hoping to boost the spirits of increasingly desperate storm victims and exhausted rescuers. | Susan Walsh, Associated Press
In this Aug. 29, 2005, file photo, Gulfport, Miss. police officer Terrence Gray, right, helps evacuate Lovie Mae Allen and a group of children from their flooded homes after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. This image was taken shortly after the storm passed through the area. | John Bazemore, Associated Press
In this Aug. 30, 2005, file photo, floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina cover a portion of New Orleans. | AP
In this Sept. 5, 2005, file photo, a military helicopter drops a sandbag as work continues to repair the 17th Street canal levee in New Orleans, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. | David J. Phillip, Associated Press
In this Oct. 26, 2005, file photo, members of the Louisiana Recovery Authority tour New Orleans' hurricane-ravaged Lower 9th Ward, as much of the 9th Ward was destroyed when the levee broke at the Industrial Canal during hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Seventeen years after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, the Army Corps of Engineers has completed an extensive system of floodgates, strengthened levees and other protections. | AP
