I'm going to continue to update this blog entry over the next few weeks, but if you see different numbers or things I've forgotten, please leave a comment. Last update Aug. 31, 2017. More information, such as storm surge, tornadoes and recorded winds, coming soon.

When it comes to rainfall, Harvey is the clear winner.

Hurricane Katrina Max Rainfall 16.43"
Hurricane Harvey Max Rainfall 51.88"

Hurricane Katrina Rainfall > 10 Inches: Size of Rhode Island
Hurricane Harvey Rainfall > 10 Inches: Larger than Louisiana

NOAA

As far as maximum strength in the ocean, Katrina wins, hands down.

Hurricane Harvey Max Strength: Category 4 (130 mph / 938 mb)
Hurricane Katrina Max Strength: Category 5 (175 mph / 902 mb)

At landfall, it's a toss-up. Katrina originally was said to have made landfall as a Category 4 storm with 135-mph winds, but that was later revised, and in doing so, Harvey, which was at its peak strength at landfall, would be considered stronger than Katrina for winds, but weaker for pressure.

Hurricane Harvey Strength at Landfall: Category 4 (130 mph / 938 mb)
Hurricane Katrina Strength at Landfall: Category 3 (125 mph / 920 mb)

Harvey and Katrina near landfall, at sunset, showing the "stadium effect" looked very similar on visible satellite

(although these images are not to scale).

Hurricane Katrina vs. Hurricane Harvey (Visible Satellite - Not to Scale)

NOAA

It's almost impossible to judge the size of a storm from satellite images because they change so much, and every satellite map has a different projection. This is the best estimation of the two hurricanes at maximum strength. It appears that Katrina was a larger storm, but it is shown before landfall here, while Harvey is at landfall. Harvey also developed a lobe on its right side that Katrina didn't have.

Hurricane Harvey vs. Hurricane Katrina (IR)

UNITED STATES - AUGUST 25: In this NOAA handout image, NOAA's GOES East satellite capture of Hurricane Harvey shows the storm making landfall shortly after 8:00pm CDT on August 25, 2017 on the mid-Texas coast. Now at category 4 strength, Harvey's maximum sustained winds had increased to 130 miles per hour. (Photo by NASA/NOAA GOES Project via Getty Images)

NOAA

For evacuations, Katrina had many, many more, although the Houston Mayor has taken heat for not evacuating parts of the city. Had he evacuated the entire city, it would have been at least 2.5 to 3.7 million, the number when the city was evacuated for Rita in 2005.

Hurricane Katrina Evacuations: 1,500,000 (WikiPedia)
Hurricane Harvey Evacuations: 30,000 (not including rescues)

As far as water rescues, this is still ongoing with Harvey. As of this morning, FEMA said 10,000 people had been rescued by government agencies in Houston and Beaumont, Texas. This does not include a significant number of rescues by civilians, which I would estimate at 5-10,000, and an unknown number of people are still waiting to be rescued.

Hurricane Katrina Rescues: 30,000
Hurricane Harvey Rescues: 10,000+ to date

As to deaths, although the true number is unknown and the toll could significantly rise, we hope that Harvey ends up at 10 percent or less of Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina Fatalities: ~1,800
Hurricane Harvey Fatalities: 38 (roughly doubling every day)

For gas prices, so far so good compared to Katrina, but we'll see where this goes. The U.S. economy is much more resilient to gas prices changes now, but it will depend on how much shipping and refinery is really affected this time.

Hurricane Katrina Gas Price Change: +/- $1.00
Hurricane Harvey Gas Price Change: +0.20 (so far)

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