Black History Month 2025
2004 2005 2006
42 William J. Clinton | 43 George W. Bush | 44 Barack Obama
Affirmative Action Mass Incarceration Reparations Movement
Katrina Hit New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana - Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans. The levees that protected the lower Ninth Ward were destroyed. The United States military used explosives to breach the levee and flood eastern New Orelans.
On August 23, 2005, Hurricane Katrina was spotted. It started as a tropical storm. On August 25, 2005, it became a hurricane, in Florida. On August 26, 2005, Katrina moved into the Gulf of Mexico and got worse.
On Sunday, August 28th, 2005, thousands of people took shelter in the New Orleans Superdome. This included 150 National Guardsmen.
Over time, the military sent more to shelter there. It reached 15,000-20,000 people. It included the old, women, children, the sick, and the disabled. The vast majority were Black American.
On Monday, August 29th, 2005, just after midnight, Katrina hit New Orleans. The rain began. Hurricane force winds battered the buildings. It continued until about 7 a.m.
At 6:20 a.m., the power failed in the Superdome. Medical equipment failed. Only emergency lights worked in the almost dark building.
By 7:00 a.m., the worst of the storm had passed. Katrina dumped 5-10 inches of rain on New Orleans, in 24 hours. There was minor flooding and property damage. The leevees were intact.
Between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., the 7th Street levee was destroyed. the United States military used explosives to breech the levee. It made a hole that was 3 football fields long.
This was the largest leevee in the city. It sat next to the Lower Ninth Ward, in southeast New Orleans. At the time, it was 98% Black American. Many were homeowners.
At 9:00 a.m., the roof of the Superdome began to fail. People saw the sky, through the roof. Rain poured into the building. The military stopped anyone from leaving.
At the same time, a 10 foot wave of water rushed into the Lower Ninth Ward. It flooded the entire ward. 100,000 homes were destroyed. Most of the Black American homeowners never recovered and never returned.
The highest parts of the Lower Ninth Ward were flooded. This included private homes and the Holy Cross School. The school served as a shelter during Hurricane Betsy, in 1965. The government broke those levees, too.
By 11:00 p.m., Mayor Ray Nagin said there was major damage to the city. Bodies were seen in the water, mainly in the Lower Ninth Ward.
On August 30th, 2005, the Superdome began to fill with water. There was no clean water, no toilets, and an awful odor.
By August 31st, 2005, three (3) people had died, in the Superdome. Two were elderly. One man committed suicide.
New Orleans lost at least 1,800 lives due to the blown levees. Most lived in the Lower Ninth Ward and Lakeview neighborhoods. City-wide, over 150,000 homes were flooded. The hardest hit was the Lower Ninth Ward.
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