LiveScience Image Gallery

Hurricane Katrina Image Gallery

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz at NASA GSFC

Storm Formation

Tropical Storm Katrina had just become the eleventh named storm of the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane season when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA s Terra satellite captured this image on August 24, 2005, at 11:50 a.m., Eastern Daylight Savings Time. The storm formed late on August 23 and developed quickly into a tropical storm by 11 a.m. the next morning. By the time MODIS acquired this image, the storm was just starting to take the recognizable swirling shape of a hurricane. Katrina had winds of 64 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour) and was expected to get stronger as it approaches the south Florida coast, possibly becoming a Category 1 hurricane before coming ashore. Click to enlarge.
NASA/JPL

Gathering Strength

Tropical Storm Katrina is shown here as observed by NASA’s QuikSCAT satellite on August 25, 2005, at 08:37 UTC (4:37 a.m. in Florida). At this time, the storm had 80 kilometers per hour (50 miles per hour; 43 knots) sustained winds. The storm was moving slowly, just 13 km/hr (8 mph), and was expected to slow as it moved over land. The storm did not yet have reach hurricane strength. Click to enlarge.
AP Photo/J. Pat Carter

Windy City

Sand is blown off the beach at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. late Thursday, Aug. 25, 2005 as Hurricane Katrina came ashore. Hurricane Katrina dumped sheets of rain, kicked up the surf and blew strong winds ashore Thursday, toppling trees and driving sand across waterfront streets as it made landfall on the state s densely populated southeast coast. Click to enlarge.
AP Photo/Jeff Christensen

From the Ground Up

A large tree is uprooted due to Hurricane Katrina in Ft. Lauderdale Beach, Fla., Friday, Aug. 26, 2005. Hurricane Katrina flooded streets, darkened homes and felled trees as it plowed across South Florida before emerging over the Gulf of Mexico. Click to enlarge.
AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez

Crash Landing

Dr. Alberto Hernandez exits his car after checking it for damage from a tree that Hurricane Katrina blew down overnight on Brickell Avenue near downtown Miami Friday, Aug. 26, 2005. Click to enlarge.
AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez

Means of Transportation

Jordan Hale, front, pulls kids in a canoe through a flooded mobile home park in Florida City, Fla., Friday, Aug. 26, 2005. Hurricane Katrina flooded streets, darkened homes and felled trees as it plowed across South Florida before emerging over the Gulf of Mexico. Click to enlarge.
AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez

On the Road to Nowhere

Automobiles move through a flooded road Saturday, Aug. 27, 2005, in Homestead, Fla. Hurricane Katrina threatened to strike land again as early as Monday after ripping across southern Florida and killing seven people. Click to enlarge.
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

Eye of the Storm

GOES-12 Satellite image provided by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, Calif., on Aug. 28, 2005, showing the status of Hurricane Katrina, at 1200Z or 7am, EST. Katrina was over the Gulf of Mexico, about 250 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi river at 7 a.m. local time. The storm crossed South Florida Thursday and headed back to sea in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm s wind had increased to 160 mph, a category 5 storm. Click to enlarge.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip

Quick Escape

Traffic along highway 90 leaving Morgan City, La. is at a stand still as Louisiana residents evacuate before Hurricane Katrina makes landfall Sunday, Aug. 28, 2005. Click to enlarge.
AP Photo/Mari Darr~Welch

Boarding Up

Guietta Inscoe and Danny Norris board up a business in Pearl River, La., Sunday Aug. 28, 2005, in preparation for Hurricane Katrina. Many Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast residents prepare for the winds and water as Katrina makes an approach for a Monday landfall. Click to enlarge.
AP Photo/Rob Carr

Crashing Waves

Kelsey Travis of Ashland, Ala., back, and her friend Dana Owens of Robertsdale, Ala., get splashed by waves hitting the sea wall Sunday Aug. 28, 2005, in Orange Beach, Ala. Hurricane Katrina intensified into a Category 5 giant over the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico on a path to come ashore early Monday in the heart of New Orleans. Click to enlarge.
AP Photo/Eric Gay

Packed Stadium

Some of the thousands of displaced residents take cover from Hurricane Katrina at the Superdome, a last-resort shelter, in New Orleans about midnight, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2005. Officials called for a mandatory evacuation of the city, but many residents remained in the city. Click to enlarge.
NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team

Path of Destruction

This image was captured August 29, 2005. Hurricane Katrina turned slightly eastward before slamming into shore redirecting the storm s most potent winds and rain away from the vulnerable, low lying New Orleans area. Katrina weakened slightly overnight to a Category 4 storm and her eastward movement put the western eyewall - the weaker side of the strongest winds - over New Orleans. This doesn t mean New Orleans has been spared her wrath completely, the city is still getting hit with 145 mph winds today and the possibly of a 20 foot storm surge. Click to enlarge.
AP Photo/Dave Martin

Harsh Conditions

Arnold James tries to keep his feet as a strong gust nearly blows him over as he tries to make his way on foot to the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005. The roof on James s home blew off, forcing him to seek shelter at the Superdome. Click to enlarge.
AP Photo/Dave Martin

In Ruins

Debris from a fallen building covers several buildings in downtown New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina battered the Louisiana Coast on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005. Click to enlarge.
AP Photo/Dave Martin

Underwater City

The city of New Orleans is inundated with water on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Flood waters continue to rise in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage when it made landfall on Monday. Click to enlarge.

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