The Southeastern United States, extending from South Florida to Louisiana and areas inland, was severely affected by Hurricane Katrina, which caused many deaths and billions in damages.

[5] Hurricane-force winds reached coastal Mississippi by 2 a.m.[2] and lasted over 17 hours, spawning 11 tornadoes (51 in other states[3]) and a 28-foot (8.5 m) storm surge[3] flooding 6–12 miles (9.7–19.3 km) inland.

The worst property damage from Katrina occurred in coastal Mississippi, where all towns flooded over 90% in hours, and waves destroyed many historic buildings, with others gutted to the 3rd story.

Moving generally westward, it intensified into a hurricane, and Katrina made its first landfall near the border of Miami-Dade and Broward counties with winds of around 80 mph (130 km/h), at 22:30 UTC on August 25.

[4] On August 24, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) first started issuing tropical cyclone watches and warnings for the southeastern United States.

While the hurricane was still over water, President George W. Bush declared a disaster area for Louisiana and Mississippi, allocating resources from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

[17] Also on August 25, when Hurricane Katrina crossed the southern tip of Florida, government offices in Mississippi had already discussed emergency evacuation plans for days.

[4] On August 28, the National Weather Service in Slidell, Louisiana issued a bulletin predicting "devastating" damage rivaling the intensity of Hurricane Camille.

The simulation was named Pam, in which a category 3 hurricane's strong winds and flooding caused the levee system of New Orleans to fail and leave the city underwater.

Many emergency officials were stunned by the lack of response to Hurricane Pam's simulation, expressing their concerns that if a disaster like this did occur, the effects would be catastrophic.

[22] Six of the indirect deaths were in South Florida, of which three were from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by generators, one was due to a vehicle accident, one occurred during debris cleanup, and one was associated with a lack of electricity.

[4] The strongest sustained winds in Florida was a report of 72 mph (116 km/h) on the roof of the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science in Virginia Key.

[4] Tides reached 3 to 5 ft (0.91 to 1.52 m) in mainland Monroe County, which flooded several houses and vehicles in Flamingo in Everglades National Park.

[46] The hurricane also washed ashore with a significant storm surge that flooded coastal portions of southern Alabama, reaching several miles inland.

While moving ashore, Katrina produced a storm surge along the coast that reached 12 mi (19 km) inland, with a high water mark of 27.8 ft (8,500 mm) recorded at Pass Christian.

[62] Surveying the damage the day after Katrina's passing, Mississippi governor Haley Barbour called the scene indescribable, saying "I can only imagine that this is what Hiroshima looked like 60 years ago.

[66] Surge covered almost the entire lower half of Hancock County, destroying the coastal communities of Clermont Harbor and Waveland, and much of Bay St. Louis, and flowed up the Jourdan River, flooding Kiln.

In Harrison County, Pass Christian was completely inundated, along with a narrow strip of land to the east along the coast, which includes the cities of Long Beach and Gulfport; the flooding was more extensive in communities such as D'Iberville, which borders the Back Bay of Biloxi.

Other Jackson County communities such as Porteaux Bay were destroyed, and St. Martin was hard hit, along with Ocean Springs, Moss Point, Gautier, and Escatawpa.

Hancock County was the scene of the final landfall of the eye of Hurricane Katrina, causing total devastation in Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pearlington, and Clermont Harbor, as well as southern Diamondhead.

[25] In Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, one foot (0.30 m) of water swamped the Emergency Operations Center at the Hancock County courthouse, which sits 30 feet (9.1 m) above sea level.

Biloxi was greatly helped by the resurgence of the casino industry, while smaller towns such as Pass Christian did not have an economic base with which to start the reconstruction effort.

[citation needed] When Hurricane Katrina moved ashore on August 29, its strongest winds occurred to the east of the eye in extreme southeastern Louisiana.

[47] The large size and intensity of Katrina pushed ashore a storm surge of 15 to 19 ft (4.6 to 5.8 m), inundating the southern coast of Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans to St. Bernard Parish.

[79] Blanco instructed the Adjutant General of the Louisiana National Guard, Major General Bennett C. Landreneau to contact Honoré of Northern Command (Honoré arrived on Wednesday, August 31, as the commander of the newly established Joint Task Force Katrina to supervise federal military operations) to arrange for active duty military support of response operations in Louisiana.

[84] The recovery efforts, including over 6.6 million cubic yards collected[85] and restoration of essential services, continued for at least through 2009 following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

He requested that only employees in Drainage, Heavy Equipment, Public Right-of-Way Maintenance and Solid Waste departments return to the parish if possible.

As gasoline was in short supply even for emergency workers, the parish banned gas sales to the public for several days, arousing the ire of many locals.

[105] In the two months after Katrina struck south Florida, Hurricane Rita brushed the region in late September with tropical storm-force winds and flooding rains.

Because all 3 Emergency Command Centers in the Mississippi coastal counties had been flooded over 30 feet (9.1 m) above sea level,[4] the rules for command-center elevation were changed to relocate to even higher ground.