On the morning of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, destroying much of what was in its path from the state of Louisiana all the way to the state of Florida. The storm itself did a great deal of damage, but the greatest catastrophe was during the aftermath in the city of New Orleans. For years (people) feared that one day a hurricane would drown the city with its storm surge and Katrina brought this fear to a reality. Due to inadequate repair, maintenance failure, incompletion, and inaccurate engineering designs, the levee breaches led to massive flooding (Hurricane Katrina). .
New Orleans is located in one of the lowest spots in the U.S. and although half of the city lies above sea level, its average elevation is six feet below sea level; it's completely surrounded by water (Hurricane Katrina). It's bordered by the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. The river and lake ultimately feed into the Gulf of Mexico, which lies approximately 100 miles from New Orleans. In addition to being surrounded by water, the city is also patterned with canals and bayous that are important to the city's daily functions. The effects of Hurricane Katrina flooded eighty percent of the city while the storm surge breeched levees and floodwalls. .
In its 295-year history, major hurricanes or floods have put the city under 27 times, about once every 11 years (Bourne). .
Long before the wrath of Katrina, the natives and French settlers faced horrendous flooding. The colonial capital was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville and he actually had to wait for the water to recede before he could plant the French flag in 1718. A flood destroyed the village a year after he founded it, and hurricanes wiped it off the map in 1722 and again a year later (Bourne). To guard against flooding, the colonial government built the first man-made levee system. In most areas, the levee only measured three feet and failed to contain the river during periods of heavy flooding.