Swamped City Faces Reality as Levees Fail Officials say that New Orleans region will need much stronger storm protection and policies
A long-feared U.S. Gulf Coast disaster began to unfold Aug. 28 as raging Hurricane Katrina smashed ashore. Cities were inundated, streets looked like war zones and rescuers found clusters of bodies in homes and apartments where people riding out the storm lost their gamble. Katrina pushed contractors into action and left officials staring at the need for vastly stronger systems and policies for storm protection.
The picture was especially grim in once charming New Orleans, whose 130-mile wall of encircling levees was overtopped or breached in at least two places, sending rivers of water cascading into the streets. By the afternoon of Aug. 30, 80% of the city reportedly was under water. To the east, residents of Gulfport and Biloxi, Miss., also were stunned by deaths and catastrophic destruction. President Bush declared impacted parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama as major disaster areas.