Hurricane Katrina was the largest, most costly, and destructive hurricane to hit the United States, making landfall as a Category 5 storm along the Gulf Coast in August 2005. It caused catastrophic flooding as levees failed in New Orleans, submerging 80% of the city and displacing millions along the coasts of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. Over 1,800 people lost their lives and property damage totaled an estimated $108 billion, rendering it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

1. HURRICANE KATRINA - AMERICA'S MOST
DESTRUCTIVE HURRICANE
Peter Killcommons

2. INTRODUCTION
 Dr. Peter "Pete" Killcommons is the chief executive of Medweb
Medical Imaging, Teleradiology, and Telemedicine. Running the
company’s disaster response division, Dr. Peter Killcommons
donated the company’s satellite communications van to help
expedite medical treatment in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States on an
early morning on August 29, 2005. The hurricane was
accompanied by sustained winds blowing at speeds of 100 to 140
miles per hour. It was the largest, most costly, most destructive,
and third-strongest hurricane to ever make a landfall in the United
States.
The storm first formed over the Bahamas on August 25 before
making its way north toward the Gulf Coast.

3. HURRICANE KATRINA
 Meteorologists were able to warn people of the coming storm,
and evacuations were underway but what was initially classified a
Category 1 hurricane and later downgraded to a tropical storm
grew rapidly over the Gulf of Mexico and by the time it made a
landfall over New Orleans, had peaked as a Category 5
hurricane.
Katrina’s powerful winds blew past the levees of the Mississippi
River, Lake Pontchartrain, and Lake Borgne, causing widespread
flooding that submerged 80 percent of New Orleans and
pummeled large parts of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi.
An estimated 1,833 people died in the hurricane, while millions of
others along the Gulf Coast were displaced and left homeless.
Experts estimate the damage caused by the hurricane amounted
to $108 billion.