Power Outage in New Orleans, LA

A tornado touched down between Claiborne Ave and Carrollton Ave in the Uptown area of New Orleans. It tracked east producing mostly tree and limb damage with a large tree uprooted near Napoleon Ave. It continued to track east producing tree damage before arriving near the Amtrak terminal and peeling back the tin roof on a large metal building. It tracked southeast, knocking down branches and trees in the Central Business District and then crossed the Mississippi River into Algiers. The tornado knocked down trees and power poles along with minor roof damage to a few homes and businesses before lifting near the Naval Support Activity Center.

A tornado touched down between Claiborne Ave and Carrollton Ave in the Uptown area of New Orleans. It tracked east producing mostly tree and limb damage with a large tree uprooted near Napoleon Ave. It continued to track east producing tree damage before arriving near the Amtrak terminal and peeling back the tin roof on a large metal building. It tracked southeast, knocking down branches and trees in the Central Business District and then crossed the Mississippi River into Algiers. The tornado knocked down trees and power poles along with minor roof damage to a few homes and businesses before lifting near the Naval Support Activity Center.

Zeta produced widespread damage due to high winds. A Weatherflow station near the border of St. Bernard and Orleans parishes on |Bayou Bienvenue recorded a maximum sustained wind of 87 mph with peak gust of 112 mph, though it should be noted that at 27.4m. The station is elevated higher than the standard observation height of 10m. Trees, power lines and power poles were snapped throughout the parish with the parish responding to around 550 tree emergencies. 40 city facilities suffered minor structural damage in addition to 400 residential and commercial buildings. 10 buildings sustained major damage. 1 indirect fatality occurred due to electrocution and one injury due to falling debris from a roof collapse.

Delta produced minimal impacts with peak wind gusts generally in the 40 to 50 mph range. A few power outages were reported.

Frequent tropical storm force wind gusts with a few instances of sustained tropical storm force winds were reported at Lakefront Airport KNEW as well as a WeatherFlow site at Lakefront Airport. The highest gust reported was 43 knots at 11:08 pm CST on June 21. The strong winds downed a few trees along Highway 11 between Highway 90 and I-10, and also downed power lines along General Degaulle. At the peak, there were approximately 7100 homes without power.

A tornado touched down just east of the industrial canal and moved northeast into the Evangeline Oaks Subdivision where it quickly strengthened into a multi-vortex EF-2 tornado. In this area, it snapped several power poles and caused significant roof damage to an apartment complex as well as a building similar to an automobile service building. the tornado then turned toward the east and continued to move almost due east through neighborhoods just north of Chef Menteur Blvd. The worst damage was generally along and just north of Grant Street from Read Blvd to Chalmark Dr. In this area, dozens of homes lost all or large portions of their roof structures. Several homes also had numerous collapsed walls. A few two story homes suffered almost complete destruction of the top floor with the exception of one or two interior corner walls. The tornado also bent at least 3 steel electrical transmission poles. The tornado continued moving toward the east, causing damage to the NASA Michoud facility and a few other industrial buildings in the area, and rolling a rail tanker car east of the Michoud Canal. The track is terminated at Lake Borgne, but the tornado likely continued for some time after that over water. Of the 33 injuries, 5-6 of them were considered serious. Maximum estimated wind speeds were around 150 mph. In total, the tornado caused moderate to severe damage to 638 homes, of which around half were considered total losses. At least 40 businesses also suffered moderate to severe damage.

A tornado touched down just east of the industrial canal and moved northeast into the Evangeline Oaks Subdivision where it quickly strengthened into a multi-vortex EF-2 tornado. In this area, it snapped several power poles and caused significant roof damage to an apartment complex as well as a building similar to an automobile service building. the tornado then turned toward the east and continued to move almost due east through neighborhoods just north of Chef Menteur Blvd. The worst damage was generally along and just north of Grant Street from Read Blvd to Chalmark Dr. In this area, dozens of homes lost all or large portions of their roof structures. Several homes also had numerous collapsed walls. A few two story homes suffered almost complete destruction of the top floor with the exception of one or two interior corner walls. The tornado also bent at least 3 steel electrical transmission poles. The tornado continued moving toward the east, causing damage to the NASA Michoud facility and a few other industrial buildings in the area, and rolling a rail tanker car east of the Michoud Canal. The track is terminated at Lake Borgne, but the tornado likely continued for some time after that over water. Of the 33 injuries, 5-6 of them were considered serious. Maximum estimated wind speeds were around 150 mph. In total, the tornado caused moderate to severe damage to 638 homes, of which around half were considered total losses. At least 40 businesses also suffered moderate to severe damage.

Strong straight-line winds caused damage in the 7th Ward of New Orleans along Claiborne Avenue from Esplanade to Orleans. Four structures were totally or partially collapsed. Power lines were downed and some homes received damage to siding.

A power pole was snapped at the intersection of St. Charles and St. Andrew.

Scattered tree damage was reported in the Gentilly area. Approximately 5000 customers were reported without power in Orleans Parish.

A main transmission line was blown down near the Central Business District. Interstate 10 was closed at Chef Menteur Highway due to power lines down on the Interstate.

Wind damage and downed power poles were reported on Broad Street in New Orleans.

Lakefront Airport reported sustained 48 mph with gust to 60 mph at 1857. Approximately 6,000 customers lost power in New Orleans due to power outages caused by the high winds.

A few trees blown over...scattered power outages...and two cars blown off the road along Interstate 10 in New Orleans.

The tornado which moved through the east portions of Metaire continued to move northeast through the Lakeview and Lakefront neighborhoods of New Orleans. The area where the tornado impacted had previously been flooded by Hurricane Katrina, and most homes were unoccupied. Several homes suffered substantial damage to roofs, windows blown out, and power poles blown down. Several two story homes suffered substantial damage to the second floor with roof removed and walls blown out. A large communication tower was toppled at a former state policebuilding. The tornado moved into Lake Pontchartrain as a waterspout.

Lightning from a severe electrical storm knocked out power to about 8,000 people and knocked out power to four water supply pumps for the city resulting in no water or low water pressure in some areas.

Thunderstorm wind gusts downed large tree limbs and caused power loss to ten to fifteen thousand electric power customers.

The ninth named storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, Ida originated from a tropical wave in the Caribbean Sea on August 23rd. On August 26th, the wave developed into a tropical depression, which organized further and became Tropical Storm Ida later that day, near Grand Cayman. On a northwestward track, Ida intensified into a hurricane on August 27, just before moving over western Cuba. A day later, the hurricane underwent rapid intensification over the Gulf of Mexico as it passed over a warm core eddy and reached major hurricane strength. It was just under 72 hours from tropical depression formation to category 4 strength with 150 mph winds. Ida remained at its peak intensity of 150 mph winds and a minimum central pressure of 929 millibars as it made landfall near Port Fourchon midday on August 29th. It didn���t weaken to a tropical storm until it reached near the Louisiana/Mississippi border. ||Ida produced extensive to catastrophic damage across southeast Louisiana. On Grand Isle, around 40% of the structures were destroyed and the island was uninhabitable. Near 75% of the structures in Lafourche Parish were damaged or destroyed and likely similar numbers in Terrebonne Parish. 100+ mph wind gusts reached as far inland as Interstate 12. These winds damaged more than 30,000 poles, over 36,000 spans of wire and nearly 6,000 transformers. Of those more than 30,000 Louisiana poles, nearly 80% of those broken or damaged are from the most heavily impacted areas.|In total, the number of damaged or destroyed poles from Ida is more than hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Delta and Zeta combined. Due to major destruction to the power grid across the region, over 1 million customers were without power after landfall. Some of those power outages near the Louisiana coast lasted for around 4 weeks. |||The Louisiana Department of Health reported 3 direct fatalities and 28 indirect fatalities. Excessive heat and carbon monoxide poisoning were the most common causes of death. Indirect injuries associated with Ida: 351 heat-related, 183 carbon monoxide exposure, and 3 electrocutions. Storm surge ranged from a few feet to 10 to 15 feet. Hurricane Ida caused approximately $30 billion worth of damage.

A tropical depression formed in the northwestern Caribbean on the afternoon of October 24th. 9 hours later, it became the twenty-seventh named storm and eleventh hurricane of the exceptionally active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. After meandering virtually in the same place, it finally began moving northwest and slowly strengthening before making its first landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula on October 26th. Zeta exited the Yucantan Peninsula weaker but still a strong tropical storm. The path of the storm began shifting from northwest to northeast, and heading straight towards Louisiana. In terms of intensity, Zeta slowly but steadily strengthened from this point all the way up until landfall. It reached the highest wind speed possible of a Category 2 storm, 110 mph. Zeta produced extensive wind damage across southeast Louisiana with measured sustained winds up to 87 mph and gusts up to 110 mph. Thousands of power poles were downed and thousands of homes experienced minor damage. Storm surge ranged from a few feet to several feet. There were a total of 1 fatality and 1 injury. Hurricane Zeta caused approximately $1 billion worth of damage. ||Zeta was the record-tying sixth hurricane to make landfall in the United States and the record fifth named storm to strike Louisiana in 2020.

Hurricane Barry initially developed from a disturbance that moved from Georgia southwest to the northeast Gulf of Mexico on July 8-9, 2019. The weak low pressure system continued to move west-southwest and strengthen, and was eventually classified as Tropical Storm Barry on the morning of July 11th, 95 miles south southeast of the Mouth of the Mississippi River.||Barry continued to move slowly west then northwest and briefly reached hurricane strength on the morning of July 13th before landfall in south-central Louisiana near Intracoastal City, LA, in Vermillion Parish. Tropical storm force winds, reached the southeast Louisiana coast by midday on Friday, July 12th and spread slowly northwest reaching the Baton Rouge area during the evening of July 12th. Tropical storm wind impacts had ended across all of southeast Louisiana by midday on July 14th. Tropical storm force winds were primarily measured in gusts across southeast Louisiana. The|exception was in Terrebonne and Assumption Parishes, close to the landfall location, where sustained tropical storm force winds and frequent gusts caused more significant power line and tree damage. A few tropical storm wind gusts were recorded in the metro New Orleans area but were not very impactful. No hurricane force wind gusts were recorded in southeast Louisiana. A WeatherFlow site at Dulac, Terrebonne Parish, recorded both the maximum sustained wind and highest wind gust on 07/13/2019 at 0739CST: 42kt/48 mph and 59kt/ 68 mph, respectively. The lowest minimum pressure measured in southeast Louisiana was at the Bootheville, LA ASOS with a pressure of 999.3mb on July 12th, at 1706CST.||Mostly minor to moderate storm surge flooding occurred across coastal southeast Louisiana, including Lake Pontchartrain, and a small part of the Mississippi Coast. Terrebonne Parish had significant storm surge flooding in the lower portion of the parish with storm tides of 5 to 8 feet, locally up to 9 feet. Several local levees were overtopped on the morning of July 13th, flooding roads and a few houses. The highest storm tide reading was 9.11 feet NAVD88 at a USGS tide gage at Caillou Lake near Dulac, Terrebonne Parish. The remainder of the area had storm tide readings in the 3 to 5 foot range.||Storm total rainfall was generally between 4 and 8 inches with a maximum rainfall of 8.83 inches recorded northeast of Denham Springs, Livingston Parish. Isolated flash flooding of streets and secondary roadways occurred on Sunday, July 13th in the greater Baton Rouge area, but flash flooding was not widespread or significant.||The lower Mississippi River was at unusually high stages from late August with the stage at the New Orleans Carrolton gauge near 16.5 ft. The combination of storm surge entering the lower Mississippi River with very high river stages prompted concern of potential overtopping of MS River levees in lower Plaquemines Parish, prompting some evacuations in that area.

Tropical Storm Cindy developed over the central Gulf of Mexico on June 20th and moved generally northwest for the next few days before making landfall in southwest Louisiana near the Louisiana and Texas state line.||Cindy was an asymmetric system as it moved through the central Gulf toward southwest Louisiana, resulting in minor to moderate impacts across southeast Louisiana. The storm resulted in heavy rainfall, minor storm surge flooding, and isolated damage due to strong winds.||The minimum sea level pressure of 1004.4 mb, along with the highest wind gust and highest sustained wind in southeast Louisiana were all measured by the New Orleans Lakefront Airport ASOS. The highest wind gust recorded was 43 knots, or 49 mph, and the the maximum sustained wind in southeast Louisiana was 38 knots, or 44 mph. Tropical storm force winds were primarily experienced in gusts as squalls moved through the area. The winds did cause isolated minor damage to trees, roofs, and power lines. The only two known injuries in southeast Louisiana resulted from a tree falling on a mobile home in Houma.||A storm tide of generally 4 to 6 feet occurred along the Gulf Coast of southeast Louisiana from St. Bernard Parish through Terrebonne Parish. The highest measured storm tide was 6.18 ft NAVD88 at a USGS gauge near Point a la Hache in Plaquemines Parish. The elevated tides resulted in minor to moderate flooding mainly of low lying land and roadways outside the federal levee system. ||Around Lake Pontchartrain, storm tide was generally measured in the 2 to 4 ft range, with a maximum value of 4.29 ft NAVD88 at the USCOE gauge near Mandeville. Again, impacts were minor to moderate with flooding to low lying land and roadways outside of levees systems.||Many areas of southeast Louisiana received 3 to 5 inches of rain with a few measurements in excess of 6 inches. Maximum storm total rainfall was 6.52 inches measured at a CoCoRaHS station in St. Bernard. The rainfall resulted in some minor river flooding across portions of the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.

A strong upper level low over the southern Rockies aided in the development of surface low pressure over north Texas on the 26th. As this low moved east along a stationary front over Louisiana and Mississippi, a strong line of thunderstorms developed during the early morning hours of the 27th. This line of storms moved rapidly across southeast Louisiana during the daylight hours of the 27th. Numerous reports of thunderstorm wind damage were received, primarily downed trees and power lines. Several meso-cyclones embedded in the southern potion of the squall line spawned weak tornadoes.

Isaac entered the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm on August 26, moving northwest after crossing Haiti, Cuba and the Florida Straits. Isaac strengthened into a hurricane on the morning of the 28th when it was 75 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Isaac made landfall in Plaquemines Parish as a Category 1 Hurricane near Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River on the evening of the 28th. A second landfall occurred near Port Fourchon the following morning. The storm weakened to a tropical storm on the afternoon of the 29th about 50 miles west southwest of New Orleans, and weakened further to a tropical depression on the afternoon of the 30th near Monroe, Louisiana. || The highest wind gust recorded on land in Louisiana was 75 knots, or 86 mph, measured by a portable weather station (Texas Tech University) near Buras on the evening at August 28. The maximum sustained wind in Louisiana was 65 knots, or 75 mph, at the same portable weather station near Buras on the evening of August 28. There were several marine observations near the coast that had slightly higher wind readings, but their observation heights were generally 80 ft or higher. ||Due to Isaac���s very large size, and slow forward speed, tropical storm force winds lasted in excess of 48 hours in many areas of coastal southeast Louisiana. Occasional hurricane gusts of 70 to 85 mph were recorded across southeast Louisiana during the night of the Aug 28th and early on the 29th, especially south of Lake Pontchartrain. Interior areas of southeast Louisiana such as around Baton Rouge and northward experienced tropical storm force winds. Widespread power outages occurred across the area. Local utility companies reported over 700,000 customers were without power at the peak of the storm in southeast Louisiana. Generally, most of the wind damage was limited to downed trees and power lines, and roof damage caused by wind and falling trees and tree limbs.||The minimum sea level pressure measured from a land station was 965 mb on the morning of Aug 29 at a portable weather station ( Texas Tech Univ) located near Larose. A pressure of 974.3 mb was measured at a NOAA gage at Bayou Gauche on the morning of August 29th. Close to the landfall location, a reading 969.8 mb was measured at the NOAA NOS station at Pilots Station near Southwest Pass on the evening of the 29th shortly after the first landfall. The height of this measurement was 24 meter or 79 feet. ||A storm tide of 8 to 13 feet occurred in eastern Plaquemines Parish and St. Bernard Parish. A representative maximum storm tide of 13.21 ft NAVD88 was measured at a USGS tide gage near Pointe a la Hache. A local levee was overtopped or breached in the Braithwaite area of Plaquemines Parish early on August 29. A number of people had to be rescued from the flooded area, but a 60 year old woman and 52 year old man drowned in the storm surge. ||Significant impact also occurred around Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas with a storm tide of 5 to 9 feet. 5 to 10 thousand homes were flooded in low lying areas of that border these lakes of the following parishes: St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Livingston, Ascension, St James and St John the Baptist. Laplace in St. John the Baptist was especially hard hit with over 5,000 homes flooded by storm surge. An additional storm surge fatality occurred in St. Tammany Parish on the morning of the 30th when a 75 year old man drove his car into a storm surge filled ditch. ||Storm surge flooding also affected areas south and southwest of New Orleans with a storm tide of 4 to 7 feet. Roadways and low lying property were flooded. Local levees around Lafitte and Myrtle Grove were overtopped and/or breached resulting flooding of numerous houses and property in this area.||Many areas of southeast Louisiana received 8 to 12 inches of rain with a few locations having 15 inches of rain or more. Maximum storm total rainfall was 20.66 inches at the New Orleans Carrollton gauge on the Mississippi River. Rainfall run-off produced moderate to major flooding on the Tangipahoa, Tchefuncte, Tickfaw, Amite, Pearl, Bogue Chitto and Bogue Falaya Rivers. Storm surge and high tides restricted outflow of the rivers near the coast and lakes exacerbating flooding in those areas. ||Overall impacts of Isaac resulted in at least $600 million in damages in southeast Louisiana, 3 direct fatalities, and 2 indirect fatalities. Storm surge flooding accounted for the bulk of damage, estimated around $500 million and the three direct storm surge fatalities in Louisiana. Winds accounted for a much lesser amount of slightly more than a $100 million. As stated earlier, these are early damage estimates and will likely be adjusted upward due to later damage assessments.||During the recovery process there were two indirect fatalities. On Sept 1, A 67 year man was electrocuted when attempting to restore power to his house in Abita Springs, St Tammany Parish. On Sept 3, a 90 year old man died of heat related impacts in his house in Marrero, Jefferson Parish, where power had not been restored.

Tropical Storm Lee initially developed as Tropical Depression Thirteen in middle Gulf of Mexico on Thursday evening September 1st. The depression moved slowly north and gradually strengthened, eventually reaching tropical storm strength just south of Louisiana coast on Friday afternoon September 2nd. Tropical Storm Lee made only slow and haltingly northward progress over the next 24 hours eventually moving onshore the Louisiana coast Saturday night, September 3rd, with a maximum sustained wind estimated around 60 mph. Lee moved slowly inland to north of Baton Rouge late Sunday September 4th, and eventually weakened to a tropical depression Sunday evening. ||Tropical Depression Lee then moved steadily northeast throughout Monday, September 5th, taking on extra-tropical characteristics over the next 24 hours as it interacted with an upper level disturbance moving through the region. The maximum sustained wind observed in Louisiana was a south wind of 40 kts ( 46 mph) at New Orleans Lakefront Airport on September 4th at 0528CST. The highest gust was recorded at the same location and time of 50 kts (58 mph) on September 4th at 0528CST. Lowest minimum central pressure was 993.2 mb at Baton Rouge Ryan Field at Sept 4 at 0959CST. As Tropical Depression Lee was moving northeast and taking on mid-latitude characteristics, strong northerly winds were experienced across the region, occasionally gusting to higher levels than experienced when Lee was characterized as a tropical storm. ||No fatalities or injuries were associated with any Tropical Storm Lee hazards. ||The main impacts associated with Tropical Storm Lee were associated with storm surge and rainfall. Both of these impacts were related to its slow forward speed as it crossed the region which allowed the circulation to linger over the area for several days. Storm surge associated with Lee caused tide values to be 3 to 5 feet above normal causing low land flooding. Additional detailed information is contained in the separate storm surge report. Four day storm total rainfall ranged between 7 and 15 inches across the area. A maximum of 15.48 inches was recorded near Holden in Livingston Parish. Due to dry antecedent conditions, river flooding was minimal for the amount of rainfall that occurred. ||Wind impacts were generally minimal due to only tropical storm strength winds recorded, resulting in tree limbs being blown down, and weak trees toppling causing power outages. ||Damage estimates are very rough and preliminary. All of the hazards associated with TS Lee resulted in an estimated $3.0 million in property damage. The majority of the damage, approximately $2 million, was associated with storm surge flooding impacts. Flash flooding resulted in an estimated $75,000 in damages. There was one confirmed tornado touchdown in Saint Bernard Parish resulting in $10,000 in property damage.

A rare and widespread snowfall occurred across much of southeast and east central Louisiana, beginning early in the morning of December 11th and continuing until around the noon hour, as an unusually strong and cold upper level storm system moved across the region. The snow, which was occasionally heavy, affected all but some of the immediate coastal areas. The heaviest snow occurred over the Florida parishes of east central and southeast Louisiana from east of Baton Rouge to the Pearl River, and along and to the north of Interstate 12. Snowfall amounts of 2 to 6 inches were common in this area with 6 to 8 inch totals occurring in sections of Tangipahoa Parish. The weight of the snow resulted in widespread power outages and tree damage in areas that received the heavier snowfall amounts. Snowfall totals of 1 to 2 inches were common across areas to the south and southwest of Lake Pontchartrain including the New Orleans metropolitan area.

Hurricane Gustav emerged into the southeast Gulf of Mexico as a major category 3 hurricane on August 31st after developing in the Caribbean Sea and moving across western Cuba. Gustav tracked northwestward across the Gulf toward Louisiana and made landfall as a category 2 hurricane near Cocodrie, Louisiana during the morning of September 1st. Gustav continued to move northwest across south Louisiana and weakened to a Category 1 storm over south central Louisiana later that day. The storm diminished to a tropical depression over northwestern Louisiana on September 2nd. ||The highest wind gust recorded was 102 knots or 117 mph at a USGS site at the Houma Navigational Canal and at the Pilot Station Est C-MAN at near the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River. The highest sustained wind of 91 mph was recorded at the Pilot's Station East C-MAN site. |However, due to the failure of equipment at some observation sites during the storm higher winds may have occurred. The minimum sea level pressure measured was 951.6 millibars at a USGS site at Caillou Lake southwest of Dulac and 954.5 millibars at the LUMCON facility near Dulac. Rainfall varied considerably across southeast Louisiana ranging from around 4 inches to just over 11 inches.||Gustav produced widespread wind damage across southeast Louisiana, especially in the area from Houma and Thibodaux through the greater Baton Rouge area. Hurricane force wind gusts occurred across the inland areas through the Baton Rouge area and surrounding parishes. A peak wind gust of 91 mph was recorded at the Baton Rouge (Ryan Field) Airport at 112 PM CST. This was only one mph less than the highest wind gust recorded during Hurricane Betsy in 1965. The electric utility serving most of southeast Louisiana reported 75 to 100 percent of utility customers were without power after the storm from Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes northwest through the Baton Rouge area to southwest Mississippi and central Louisiana. Considerable damage occurred to many houses and structures as large tree limbs and trees were toppled by the hurricane force winds. Preliminary estimates from the American Red Cross indicated that around 13,000 single family dwellings were damaged by the hurricane in southeast Louisiana, and several thousand more apartments and mobile homes. Early estimates from Louisiana Economic Development indicated that Gustav caused at least $4.5 billion in property damage in Louisiana, including insured and uninsured losses. ||A storm surge of 5 to 8 feet above normal occurred along the coast from the mouth of Mississippi River westward through Terrebonne Parish. The highest storm surge of 8 to 12 feet above normal occurred more distant to the east, on the east side of the Mississippi River Delta, from the Mouth of Mississippi River to the Mississippi-Louisiana border. Storm surge around Lake Pontchartrain was generally 4 to 5 feet above normal. Storm surge affected many low-lying coastal areas as well as areas around Lake Pontchartrain, but federal levees protected most of the high density population areas of greater New Orleans. However, some locally built levees were breached or overtopped. ||Three tornadoes occurred on the 2nd of September from feeder bands over the area as remnants of Gustav passed well north of the area. The most significant of the tornadoes occurred on west bank areas of Jefferson Parish where several structures suffered heavy damage.||Rainfall run-off was great enough to produce moderate flooding at some locations along the Amite and Comite Rivers in the Baton Rouge area, and along the Bogue Falaya River in the Covington area.

Hurricane Katrina was one of the strongest and most destructive hurricanes on record to impact the coast of the United States. It will likely be recorded as one the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States to date resulting in catastrophic damage and numerous casualties in southeast Louisiana and along the Mississippi coast. Damage and casualties resulting from Hurricane Katrina extended as far east as Alabama and the panhandle of Florida. Katrina developed from a tropical depression southeast of the Bahamas on August 24th. After moving through the Bahamas as a tropical storm, Katrina strengthened to a category 1 hurricane prior to landfall in south Florida around the Miami area on the 25th of August. Katrina crossed south Florida and entered the Gulf of Mexico and began to strengthen. Hurricane Katrina strengthened to a category 5 storm on August 28th about 250 miles south southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River with winds reaching their peak intensity of 175 mph and a central pressure of 902 mb. Post event analysis by the National Hurricane Center indicates that Katrina weakened slightly before making landfall as a strong category 3 storm in initial landfall in lower Plaquemines Parish. Maximum sustained winds were estimated at 110 knots or 127 mph and a central pressure of 920 mb around 610 AM CDT on August 29th in southeast Louisiana just south of Buras in Plaquemines Parish. The storm continued on a north northeast track with the center passing about 40 miles southeast of New Orleans with a second landfall occurring near the Louisiana and Mississippi border around 945 AM CDT as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir Simpson scale with maximum sustained winds estimated around 105 knots or 121 mph. Katrina continued to weaken as it moved north northeast across Mississippi during the day, but remained at hurricane strength 100 miles inland near Laurel, Mississippi. Katrina weakened to a tropical depression near Clarksville, Tennessee on August 30th.Damage in southeast Louisiana, especially in the New Orleans area and the coastal parishes, was catastrophic. Hurricane protection levees and floodwalls were overtopped and/or breached resulting in widespread and deep flooding of homes and businesses. Much of Orleans and Plaquemines Parishes and nearly all of St. Bernard Parish were flooded by storm surge. Approximately 80 percent of the city of New Orleans was flooded. Thousands of people were stranded by the flood waters in homes and buildings and on rooftops for several days and had to be rescued by boat and helicopter. In Jefferson Parish, levees were not compromised, however many homes were flooded by either heavy rain overwhelming limited pumping capacity or storm surge water moving through in-operable pumps into the parish. Severe storm surge damage also occurred along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain from Mandeville to Slidell with storm surge water moving inland as far as Old Towne Slidell with water up to 6 feet deep in some locations. Hurricane force winds also caused damage to roofs, power lines, and downed trees. Windows were broken in large buildings in the metro New Orleans area from wind and wind driven debris. In areas away from storm surge flooding, wind damage was widespread with fallen trees taking a heavy toll on houses and power lines, especially over St. Tammany and Washington Parishes. Excluding losses covered by the Federal Flood Insurance Program, insured property losses in Louisiana were estimated at 22.6 billion dollars. Overall uninsured and insured losses combined were estimated to exceed 100 billion dollars along the entire Gulf Coast.Fatalities occurring in Louisiana as a result of Hurricane Katrina numbered approximately 1097 people as of late June 2006. The majority of the victims were in the New Orleans area. 480 other Louisiana residents died in other states after evacuating.. Detailed information on the deaths, locations, and indirect or direct fatalities will be described in updates to Storm Data. Due to the failure of power and equipment prior to the peak of the storm, data for wind, storm surge, pressure, and rainfall are incomplete. A university portable weather unit measured the lowest pressure of 920.2 mb near Buras around 0616 AM AM CDT on Aug 29th. with 934 mb being measured at the National Weather Service Office in Slidell at 938 AM CDT. The highest wind gust recorded in Louisiana and the adjacent coastal waters was 99 knots (114 mph) at the Grand Isle CMAN station (338 AM CDT on August 29th) before the gage failed, though higher wind gusts certainly occurred. While most of the metro New Orleans escaped the extreme winds, the extreme eastern portions of the metro area from St Bernard Parish into extreme east New Orleans experienced the western portion of the hurricane eyewall. Wind gusts between 120 to 125 mph were recorded at a couple of locations in East New Orleans. Wind gust to hurricane force (64 kt or 74 mph) were also recorded at New Orleans Louis Armstrong Intl Airport by an FAA wind instrument. In eastern St. Tammany Parish, wind gusts to 87 knots (100) mph were measured at Slidell by a wind tower deployed by a university. An estimated wind gust of 105 kt (120 mph) was taken at a hospital in Slidell. Post storm high water surveys of the area conducted by FEMA indicated the following storm surge estimates: Orleans Parish - 12-15 feet in east New Orleans to 9 to 12 feet along the Lakefront; St. Bernard Parish - 14 to 17 feet; Jefferson Parish - 6 to 9 feet along the lakefront to 5 to 8 feet from Lafitte to Grand Isle; Plaquemines Parish - 15 to 17 feet; St. Tammany Parish - 11 to 16 feet in southeast portion to 7 to 10 feet in western portion. All storm surge heights are still water elevations referenced to NAVD88 datum. Storm total rainfall amounts generally ranged from 7 to 14 inches with lower amounts observed farther west toward the Atchafalaya River. A rainfall total of 11.63 inches was measured at the National Weather Service Office in Slidell.

Hurricane Cindy developed from a tropical depression that formed over the extreme western Caribbean Sea on July 3. This depression moved northwest over the Yucatan Peninsula and emerged over the south central Gulf of Mexico on July 4. On July 5th the depression strengthened into a tropical storm and moved north toward the southeast Louisiana coast. Cindy made landfall in southeast Louisiana early on July 6th just to the west of Grand Isle, and reached minimal hurricane strength for a short period of time. Cindy then turned toward the northeast and moved over the New Orleans area and toward the Mississippi coast before dissipating inland over central Alabama later that day. Cindy initially was classified as a tropical storm, but was later upgraded to a minimal hurricane based primarily on doppler radar wind estimates of a small area of hurricane force winds just east of the path of the hurricane in the coastal waters and extreme southeast coastal sections. Most of southeast Louisiana, including the metro New Orleans area experience long duration of tropical storm force winds and high gusts that resulted in considerable wind damage to trees and foliage as well as widespread power outages due to downed electrical lines. An estimated 278,000 electrical customers experienced power outages. Tropical storm force winds were recorded at the New Orleans Lakefront for five and a half hours starting around 11 pm CDT on July 5th with gusts greater than 55 mph recorded each hour during this period. The maximum sustained wind at the Lakefront Airport was 54 mph, or 47 knots, at 300 AM CDT on July 6th. A peak gust of 70 mph, or 61 knots, was recorded at the airport at 116 am CDT on July 6th. This was the highest wind gust measured during the storm over land areas with the exception of 74 mph, or 64 knots, along the coast at the elevated Burwood CMAN station at 149 am CDT on July 6th. A gust to 69 mph, or 60 knots, was also recorded at the NOAA C-Man station at Grand Isle. The maximum sustained wind recorded in southeast Louisiana was 55 mph, or 48 knots, at the NOAA C-Man station in Grand Isle. Heavy rainfall resulted in extensive street flooding with rainfall generally amounts ranging from 3 to a little over 6 inches across much of extreme southeast Louisiana. The lowest pressure measured in southeast Louisiana were 997.3 mb at the NOAA C-Man station in Grand Isle and also at the LSU Citrus Agricultural Station near Port Sulphur. High tides caused storm surge flooding and beach erosion at Grand Isle. The highest storm surge recorded was 5.5 feet NGVD at Bayou Dupree near Lake Borgne.Overall Hurricane Cindy caused approximately $50 million in damage in southeast Louisiana; with $2.5 million from storm surge and the remainder from wind damage. The damage estimate was based on damage estimates from Tropical Storm Bill which took a similar track but was a weaker tropical cyclone. No injuries or fatalities were reported.

Hurricane Ivan moved steadily northward across the north central Gulf of Mexico on September 15th before turning north-northeast and making landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category 3 hurricane during the early morning of September 16th. Hurricane force winds affected the lower portion of Plaquemines Parish. The highest sustained wind recorded in southeast Louisiana was at the NOAA automated weather station at the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River with sustained winds of 72 knots (83 mph) and gusts to 87 knot (100 mph) The weather instruments are located at approximately 100 ft above the sea surface. Wind gusts of around 60 knot (69 mph) were recorded at an automated weather station along the coast near Point a-la Hache. Outside of the lower Plaquemines Parish area, tropical storm force winds were recorded from coastal Terrebonne Parish northeast through the New Orleans area to eastern St. Tammany Parish. The lowest barometric pressure recorded was 983.6 mb at the Southwest Pass automated weather station. Lower portions of Plaquemines Parish suffered the greatest wind damage. Several school buildings suffered roof damage as well as several public government buildings. Around 100 mobile homes had some type of wind damage, with approximately 30 mobile homes having major damage or were destroyed. Seven houses suffered major wind damage. 50 power poles were also downed by high winds. In lower St. Bernard parish about a dozen houses had some type of wind damage. In other areas of southeast Louisiana, generally only minor wind damage was reported with power outages. At least 55, 000 customers of the local electric power company experience power outages.The highest storm surge was confined mostly to areas east of the Mississippi River where storm surge averaged 3 to 5 feet above normal except locally higher in some inlets. The highest storm surge reading was 7.6 feet NGVD at Bayou Dupre in St. Bernard Parish. The storm surge flooded low lying property and roadways outside of the hurricane protection levees in Orleans, St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes. Around Lake Pontchartrain and west of the Mississippi River, storm surge was 2 to 4 feet above normal. No tornadoes were reported in southeast Louisiana and storm total rainfall was fairly light. The greatest storm rainfall total was 2.5 inches at Buras in Plaquemine Parish.Due to the threat posed by the powerful hurricane, many area residents evacuated the New Orleans metropolitan area at the urging of local emergency management officials. State Police estimated that approximately 600,000 people evacuated from southeast Louisiana including the the New Orleans metro area prior to the hurricane. Another 400,000 other coastal residents from Florida, Alabama and Mississippi moved through the area as they evacuated to the west, away from the expected landfall of hurricane Ivan. In an area west of Kenner, eastbound lanes of Interstate Highway 10 were reversed to handle west bound traffic. Traffic jams developed during the evacuation process due to the large number of evacuees. There were no direct fatalities related to Hurricane Ivan, however four elderly residents of southeast Louisiana died during the large scale evacuation in southeast Louisiana. The Louisiana Dept of Insurance estimated that insured property damage was approximately $7.9 million. In a manner utilized by the National Hurricane Center for estimating storm damage, the insured damage estimate was doubled to arrive at total dollar damage of $15.8 million. Approximately 75% of the damage was estimated to be related to wind - $11.8 million. Approximately 25% of the storm damage was estimated to be related to storm surge - $4.0 million.