Hurricane Katrina by the Numbers, 20 years later
With numbers that still stagger today, Hurricane Katrina was one for the record books.
It was 20 years ago that catastrophic Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans after making landfall in August 2005. Here’s a look back at how the storm forever changed the landscape of the city.
On Aug. 19, 2005, a tropical wave formed in the Caribbean, one of many that hurricane season. But this one would evolve into one of the most devastating storms in U.S. history.
Ten days later, after crossing southern Florida with 90-mph winds and a foot of rain, Hurricane Katrina became a Category 5 monster in the Gulf. It slammed into the coast as a Category 3 storm. It would prove to be the most expensive hurricane in history, decimating the Mississippi coast with a storm surge higher than a three-story home that put most of New Orleans underwater for days.
Hurricane Katrina at maximum intensity at sunset on August 28, 2005. (NOAA/JHUAPL)
Now, 20 years later, AccuWeather looks back at the staggering numbers associated with the huge storm.
1,392 lives lost
Hurricane Katrina killed 1,392 people, including 520 direct deaths, 341 of which were in Louisiana, according to an update from the National Hurricane Center in 2023. That number also includes 565 indirect deaths (mostly heart attacks) and 307 deaths of indeterminate cause.
Katrina was the deadliest hurricane for the United States since 1929 and remained that until 2017, when Hurricane Maria killed nearly 3,000 people in Puerto Rico.
$320,000,000,000 ($320 billion)
AccuWeather estimates the total damage and economic loss from Hurricane Katrina was $320 billion, adjusted for inflation today.
175-mph winds
When Katrina was at its peak as a Category 5 hurricane over the Gulf, its sustained winds were 175 mph. Its central pressure was 26.64 inches of mercury (902 mb), one of the top 5 lowest pressures ever measured in the Atlantic at the time.
The highest wind gust measured on land from Hurricane Katrina was 136 mph at Poplarville, Mississippi, but in 2005, there were a fraction of the weather stations that are operational now, and it's likely higher gusts would be measured with a similar storm today.
80% of New Orleans
After the levees around New Orleans suffered more than 50 failures, it's estimated that 80 percent of the city was underwater, as well as large areas of neighboring parishes. According to a report published in 2015, the main cause of the levees failing was the sheet piles in the flood walls that were only driven to 17 feet deep, instead of 31 to 46 feet deep, due to a misinterpretation of a 1985 study.
250,000 people
Estimates from the National Institutes of Health reveal that between 150,000 and 200,000 New Orleans residents stayed in the city despite evacuation orders. Reasons for this ranged from not wanting to leave pets — 44 percent of those surveyed by ASPCA — not having transportation or not wanting to leave property and possessions behind.
In this Sept. 1, 2005, file photo, residents wait on a rooftop to be rescued from the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. It is the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. But to many, especially to those in greater New Orleans, this catastrophe was anything but an act of God. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, Pool, File)
$15,000,000,000
The University of Washington puts the cost of the improved levee system around New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina at $15 billion. Over 150 miles of levees were upgraded by 2015.
27 feet of storm surge
Katrina's storm surge was worst on the coast of Mississippi, where a 27-foot storm surge was found to have penetrated 6 miles inland on land and 12 miles inland along rivers. As a result, 90 percent of structures within half a mile of the coast near landfall were completely destroyed.
26,000 people
The Superdome in New Orleans sheltered 26,000 people, but during the storm, it became surrounded by water and lost part of its roof. Days after the storm hit, with squalid conditions and no power or water to the Superdome, most evacuees were moved to the Astrodome in Houston.
The Super Dome is seen in flooded downtown New Orleans, Louisiana on August 30, 2005, a day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region. Hurricane Katrina slammed Louisiana as a category 3 storm, forcing levies to brake and flooding much of New Orleans. (Photo by Marko Georgiev/Getty Images)
16.43 inches
Katrina's heaviest rainfall was in Perrine, Florida, 15 miles southwest of Miami, during Katrina's first landfall. Louisiana's heaviest rainfall was 14.82 inches at Big Branch.
90,000 square miles
An estimated 90,000 square miles of the United States were under federal disaster declarations from Hurricane Katrina at one point or another, around the size of the entire United Kingdom.
3,000,000 customers
At the peak of power outages, more than 3 million customers (homes and businesses) in the United States were without power because of Hurricane Katrina.
The Interstate-90 bridge over St. Louis Bay in Pass Christian, Mississippi, 30 August 2005 is folded and destroyed from the high wind and waves Hurricane Katrina. (AFP Photo/PAUL J. RICHARDS via Getty Images)
59 tornadoes
Hurricanes often spawn tornadoes, and Katrina was no different, causing 59 tornadoes. The twisters occurred in eight states and hit as far away as north of Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
80% of homes
In Louisiana's St. Bernard, St. Tammany and Plaquemines parishes, 70 to 80 percent of the housing units were damaged by Katrina's winds and flooding.
58,000 troops
More than 58,000 National Guard troops were mobilized during Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana alone, by Sept. 10, 2005.
33,500 rescues
A total of 33,500 people were rescued from Hurricane Katrina by the U.S. Coast Guard, mostly from the flooding in New Orleans, according to a GAO report to Congress one year after the storm. It has been estimated that a total of 60,000 people were stranded by the flooding in New Orleans. According to Coast Guard officials, the agency incurred no significant damage to personnel, assets, operations or financial resources as a result of sending people and assets to the Gulf region.
5,700,000 meals
The Salvation Army provided 5.7 million free meals to victims of Hurricane Katrina, including 8.3 million sandwiches and drinks.
1,300,000 acres
1.3 million acres of forest land were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The total loss to the forestry industry due to Katrina was estimated $5 billion.
A US Coast Guard helicopter passes over a flooded neighborhood east of downtown New Orleans August 30, 2005 in flight over Louisiana. (Photo by Dave Einsel/Getty Images)
$27,800,000,000
The total dollar figure estimated to have been paid out by FEMA to disaster victims from hurricanes Katrina and Rita (Rita hit Texas less than one month after Katrina struck the U.S.) was $27.8 billion (2006 USD), which would be $45.5 billion today, according to the Congressional report. That included $10.8 billion for financial and housing assistance to victims of Katrina and Rita and $17 billion in claims under the National Flood Insurance Program to policyholders in Louisiana.
700,000 people
Housing assistance, through FEMA and other programs, was granted to 700,000 people during the storm. Five years after Hurricane Katrina, there were still 260 families living in FEMA-provided trailers in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Hurricane Katrina on August 28, 2005. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour. (NASA/TRMM)
$4,250,000,000
Total donations for Hurricane Katrina recovery worldwide are estimated at $4.25 billion (USD 2005).
100,000 blankets and 50,000 cots
Nearly half of the $4.25 billion in donations, more than $2 billion, went to the Red Cross. The organization provided victims with shelter, food, emotional support and financial assistance that totaled $1.4 billion. Red Cross warehouses stored 100,000 blankets and 50,000 cots for the purposes of Katrina relief.
7,000,000 gallons of oil spilled
Hurricane Katrina damaged oil infrastructure in Louisiana, and 44 oil spills were reported, resulting in over 7 million gallons of oil leaking into the Gulf, local lakes and floodwaters.
A McDonalds lies in ruins across from the beach and Highway 90 August 30, 2005 in Biloxi, Mississippi. Approximately 100 people are feared dead and estimates put the property loss at nearly $30 billion as Hurricane Katrina could become the costliest storm in US history. (Photo by Barry Williams/Getty Images)
18,700 zip codes
As Katrina evacuees spread across the United States, they reported in from 18,700 different U.S. zipcodes, according to Justice for New Orleans.
12 hours
As told in the Congressional Report "A Failure of Initiative: Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina," AccuWeather issued a forecast predicting the target of Katrina’s landfall nearly 12 hours before the National Hurricane Center issued its first warning for New Orleans.
AccuWeather Founder Dr. Joel N. Myers and Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter reflect on Hurricane Katrina’s impact, how AccuWeather’s Superior Accuracy™ saved lives and the lasting lessons that continue to shape forecasting today.
