Hurricane Katrina's Impact on the Gulf Coast

Name: _________________________________       Date: _____________

On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast of the United States. The hurricane unleashed a fury unmatched in the region in a century. Katrina swamped vast stretches of the Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi coasts under several feet of water. Disastrous floods left a wide trail of destruction.

Satellites recorded the immediate flood impact of the hurricane in the three hard-hit states. In this activity, you'll take a close look at how Katrina devastated the landscape of the Gulf Coast.

1. You'll begin your Katrina flood tour with a false-color satellite view of Alabama and Mississippi. Compare the top photo of August 30 taken a day after the hurricane hit, with the lower one taken two days before the storm's arrival. Read the text below the photos.
   1. What is shown by the different colors (blue/black, green, and light blue) on these images?
      
      
      
      
   2. Name the two flooded rivers running through Mobile, Alabama.
      
      
      
      
   3. Look closely at the area around the mouth of the Pascagoula River in Mississippi. How did this region change?
      
      
      
      
2. The flood tour continues with a closer look at hard-hit Biloxi, Mississippi. Compare the two pictures and read the text below them.
   1. What has happened to the city's two floating casinos?
      
      
      
      
   2. Describe what's happened to nearly all the houses in the city.
      
      
      
      
3. Next, you'll see a wide-view of how New Orleans looked the day after Katrina struck. Again, compare the before and after pictures and read the caption.
   1. What percentage of New Orleans is flooded in the upper photo?
      
      
      
      
   2. Name the body of water that caused most of the flooding in the city.
      
      
      
      
   3. Describe what happened to the strip of land separating Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas.
      
      
      
      
4. Now let's zoom into a closer view of New Orleans. After comparing the pictures, read the description below them.
   1. What does the lavendar color show in the false-color lower photo?
      
      
      
      
   2. Describe how the city looks in the upper photo.
      
      
      
      
   3. Name the swollen river that snakes through the city.
      
      
      
      
5. We'll now zoom in even closer to see one of the main causes of the city's floods, the breached levee at the 17th Street Canal. Read the caption to answer the following questions.
   1. What body of water was the levee of the 17th Street Canal holding back?
      
      
      
      
   2. Describe what happened to this levee.
      
      
      
      
   3. Describe the difference in appearance between parts of the city to the left of the breach (Jefferson Parish) and to the right of the breach (Orleans Parish.)
      
      
      
      
6. Another levee was breached along the city's Industrial Canal. Examine the two pictures and read the caption.
   1. How large was the break in the Industrial Canal?
      
      
      
      
   2. In the upper photo, where is the water pouring into the city coming from?
      
      
      
      
   3. What is the name of the canal shown in the lower photo?