Case Study: New Orleans Levee System (Louisiana, 2005)

During August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall just south of New Orleans, Louisiana, resulting in the largest release of energy ever recorded in North America. The CAT 5 hurricane caused storm surge and wave impacts of 15 to 28 feet across the Mississippi River delta region that was estimated to be between a 50-year and 500-year recurrence interval, depending on the location within the region. The hurricane caused a reversal of flow (upstream) of the Mississippi River. Multiple locations within the levee system were breached during Hurricane Katrina, resulting in over 1,800 lives lost, billions in economic damage, and a long-term redistribution of over half the city’s population.