When Was Hurricane Katrina? Date, Death Toll, and Facts

When Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, 2005, it didn’t just break levees — it shattered the nation’s confidence in its disaster preparedness. The storm would go on to become the costliest hurricane in U.S. history and one of the deadliest, claiming 1,833 lives according to the National Weather Service Mobile office.

Date of landfall: August 29, 2005 ·
Category at landfall: Category 3 (Saffir-Simpson scale) ·
Estimated deaths: 1,833 (direct and indirect) ·
Peak wind speed: 175 mph (280 km/h) ·
Total damage (USD): $125 billion (2005) ·
Areas hardest hit: New Orleans, Louisiana; Gulf Coast of Mississippi

Quick snapshot

1When It Happened

Formed: August 23, 2005 (NOAA NHC)
Landfall: August 29, 2005 (Britannica)
Dissipated: August 31, 2005 (NWS Mobile)

2Where It Struck

Florida (initial landfall) (NOAA NHC)
Louisiana (primary landfall) (Britannica)
Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia (NOAA Repository)

3Key Numbers

Deaths: 1,833 (NWS New Orleans)
Damage: $125 billion (NWS New Orleans)
Category at landfall: 3 (Britannica)

4Aftermath

80% of New Orleans flooded (NWS New Orleans)
Levee failures caused most flooding (White House Archives)
Federal response led by Lt. Gen. Honoré (PBS Frontline)

Ten key facts about Hurricane Katrina, drawn from government and institutional sources:

Fact	Value
Date of landfall	August 29, 2005 (Britannica)
Location of landfall	Buras, Louisiana (NOAA NHC)
Saffir-Simpson category at landfall	Category 3 (Britannica)
Peak category	Category 5 (over Gulf of Mexico) (NOAA NHC)
Maximum sustained winds	175 mph (280 km/h) (NOAA NHC)
Minimum central pressure	902 mbar (hPa) (NOAA NHC)
Total fatalities	1,833 (NWS Mobile)
Total damage (USD)	$125 billion (2005) (NWS New Orleans)
Areas most affected	New Orleans, LA; Gulfport/Biloxi, MS (NOAA Repository)
President during event	George W. Bush (White House Archives)

When did Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans?

Date and time of landfall

Hurricane Katrina made landfall near Buras, Louisiana at 6:10 a.m. CDT on August 29, 2005 as a Category 3 hurricane (Britannica).
The National Hurricane Center’s Tropical Cyclone Report confirms the first Louisiana landfall in Plaquemines Parish near Buras.
New Orleans lost power around 6:30 a.m., minutes after landfall (EMSWorld chronology).

Storm timeline from formation to dissipation

August 23, 2005: Tropical depression forms over the Bahamas (NOAA NHC).
August 24, 2005: Strengthens to Tropical Storm Katrina (NOAA NHC).
August 25, 2005: Makes first landfall in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane (Britannica).
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August 26 28, 2005: Rapidly intensifies to Category 5 over the Gulf of Mexico (NOAA NHC