Hurricane Katrina

===Mississippi===
{{Main|Effects of Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi}}
[[File:Structural Bridge Damage.jpg|thumb|[[U.S. Route 90]]'s Bay St. Louis Bridge on Pass Christian was destroyed as a result of Katrina.]]
The Gulf coast of Mississippi suffered extremely severe damage from the impact of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, leaving 238 people dead, 67 missing, and billions of dollars in damage: bridges, barges, boats, piers, houses, and cars were washed inland.<ref name=HBrecov>{{cite web|title=Information Relating to the Federal Appropriations for Katrina Recovery |date=January 6, 2006 |access-date=September 27, 2006 |first=Haley |last=Babour |publisher=Office of the Governor, Mississippi |url=http://www.governorbarbour.com/Recovery/news/2006/jan/information.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928025331/http://www.governorbarbour.com/Recovery/news/2006/jan/information.html |archive-date=September 28, 2007}}</ref> Katrina traveled up the entire state; as a result, all 82 counties in Mississippi were declared disaster areas for federal assistance, 47 for full assistance.<ref name=HBrecov/>

After making a brief initial landfall in Louisiana, Katrina had made its final landfall near the state line, and the eyewall passed over the cities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland as a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of {{convert|120|mph|km/h|-1|abbr=on}}.<ref name="KatrinaTCR"/> Katrina's powerful right-front quadrant passed over the west and central Mississippi coast, causing a powerful {{convert|27|ft|m|1|adj=on}} storm surge, which penetrated {{convert|6|mi|km|0}} inland in many areas and up to {{convert|12|mi|km|0}} inland along bays and rivers; in some areas, the surge crossed [[Interstate 10]] for several miles.<ref name="KatrinaTCR"/> Hurricane Katrina brought strong winds to Mississippi, which caused significant tree damage throughout the state. The highest unofficial reported wind gust recorded from Katrina was one of {{convert|135|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} in [[Poplarville, Mississippi|Poplarville]], in [[Pearl River County, Mississippi|Pearl River County]].<ref name="KatrinaTCR"/>

[[File:Hurricane katrina damage gulfport mississippi.jpg|thumb|left|Damage to [[Long Beach, Mississippi]] following Hurricane Katrina]]
The storm also brought heavy rains with {{convert|8|-|10|in|mm}} falling in southwestern Mississippi and rain in excess of {{convert|4|in|mm}} falling throughout the majority of the state. Katrina caused eleven tornadoes in Mississippi on August 29, some of which damaged trees and power lines.<ref name="KatrinaTCR"/>

Battered by wind, rain and storm surge, some beachfront neighborhoods were completely leveled. Preliminary estimates by Mississippi officials calculated that 90% of the structures within half a mile of the coastline were completely destroyed,<ref name="CBS Miss">Staff Writer. [https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/01/katrina/main810916.shtml "Mississippi Coast Areas Wiped Out"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060827100659/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/01/katrina/main810916.shtml |date=August 27, 2006}} ''[[CBS News]]''. September 1, 2005. Retrieved on June 5, 2006.</ref> and that storm surges traveled as much as {{convert|6|mi|km|0}} inland in portions of the state's coast.<ref name="katreport"/> One apartment complex with approximately thirty residents seeking shelter inside collapsed. More than half of the 13 casinos in the state, which were floated on barges to comply with Mississippi land-based gambling laws, were washed hundreds of yards inland by waves.<ref name="CBS Miss"/>

A number of streets and bridges were washed away. On [[U.S. Highway 90]] along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, two major bridges were completely destroyed: the Bay St. Louis–Pass Christian<ref name="KatrinaTCR"/> bridge, and the Biloxi–[[Ocean Springs, Mississippi|Ocean Springs]] bridge. In addition, the eastbound [[Span (architecture)|span]] of the I-10 bridge over the [[Pascagoula River]] estuary was damaged. In the weeks after the storm, with the connectivity of the coastal U.S. Highway 90 shattered, traffic traveling parallel to the coast was reduced first to State Road 11 (parallel to I-10) then to two lanes on the remaining I-10 span when it was opened.

[[File:Pascagoula destroyed condos from Katrina.jpg|thumb|Surge damage in [[Pascagoula, Mississippi]]]]
All three coastal counties of the state were severely affected by the storm. Katrina's surge was the most extensive, as well as the highest, in the documented history of the United States; large portions of [[Hancock County, Mississippi|Hancock]], [[Harrison County, Mississippi|Harrison]], and [[Jackson County, Mississippi|Jackson]] counties were inundated by the storm surge, in all three cases affecting most of the populated areas.<ref>{{cite web | author = Federal Emergency Management Agency | title = Mississippi Hurricane Katrina Surge Inundation and Advisory Base Flood Elevation Map Panel Overview | date = November 2005 | access-date = July 16, 2006 | publisher = FEMA | url = http://www.fema.gov/pdf/hazard/flood/recoverydata/katrina/ms_overview.pdf | author-link = Federal Emergency Management Agency | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151120205158/http://www.fema.gov/pdf/hazard/flood/recoverydata/katrina/ms_overview.pdf | archive-date = November 20, 2015 | url-status = live}}</ref> Surge covered almost the entire lower half of Hancock County, destroying the coastal communities of [[Clermont Harbor, Mississippi|Clermont Harbor]] and Waveland, much of Bay St. Louis, and flowed up the Jourdan River, flooding Diamondhead and [[Kiln, Mississippi|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 Back Bay. [[Biloxi]], on a peninsula between the Back Bay and the coast, was particularly hard hit, especially the low-lying Point Cadet area. In Jackson County, storm surge flowed up the wide river [[estuary]], with the combined surge and freshwater flooding cutting the county in half. Remarkably, over 90% of Pascagoula, the easternmost coastal city in Mississippi, and about {{convert|75|mi|km|-1}} east of Katrina's landfall near the Louisiana-Mississippi border was flooded from storm surge at the height of the storm. Other large Jackson County neighborhoods such as Porteaux Bay and Gulf Hills were severely damaged with large portions being completely destroyed, and [[St. Martin, Mississippi|St. Martin]] was hard hit; Ocean Springs, [[Moss Point, Mississippi|Moss Point]], Gautier and [[Escatawpa]] also suffered major surge damage.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency officials also recorded deaths in [[Forrest County, Mississippi|Forrest]], [[Hinds County, Mississippi|Hinds]], [[Warren County, Mississippi|Warren]], and [[Leake County, Mississippi|Leake]] counties. Over 900,000 people throughout the state experienced power outages.<ref name="Power failures"/>