Effect of Hurricane Katrina on Mississippi

Hurricane Katrina's winds and storm surge reached the Mississippi coastline on the morning of August 29, 2005.
Gary Tuchman, Transcript of "Anderson Cooper 361 Degrees"
(2006-08-29) 19:00 ET, ''CNN'', CNN.com, web
CNN-ACooper082906

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN Correspondent: Responds to Anderson Cooper
that it felt like it would never end, saying winds were
at least 100 miles per hour in Gulfport for seven hours,
between about 7:00 a.m. and 2:01 p.m. For another five
or six hours, on each side of that, they ulfporthad
hurricane-force winds over 75 miles per hour; much of the
city ulfport, Mississippi, in Harrison County of 71,000 was then under water.

US Department of Commerce, "Service Assessment:
Hurricane Katrina August 23–31, 2005" (June 2006),
pp. 10/16, NOAA’s National Weather Service,
Silver Spring, MD,
web
NWS-Katrina-PDF
:
page 7 (storm surge 26–28 ft), p. 50: "Appendix C: Tornado
Reports Associated with Hurricane Katrina" (62 tornadoes).

beginning a two-day path of destruction through central Mississippi; by 10a.m. CDT on August 29, 2005, the eye of Katrina began traveling up the entire state, only slowing from hurricane-force winds at Meridian near 7p.m. and entering Tennessee as a tropical storm.
"."
(post-analysis) ''National Hurricane Center.''
revised August 10, 2006.

Many coastal towns of Mississippi (and Louisiana) had already been obliterated, in a single night.
Hurricane-force winds reached coastal Mississippi by 2a.m. and lasted over 17 hours, spawning 11 tornadoes (51 in other states) and a storm surge flooding inland. Many, unable to evacuate,
survived by climbing to attics or rooftops, or swimming to higher buildings and trees. 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. Afterward, 238 people died in Mississippi, and all counties in Mississippi were declared disaster areas, 49 for full federal assistance."FEMA-1604-DR Mississippi Disaster Declaration as of
10/27/2005" (map), FEMA, ITS Mapping and Analysis Center,
Washington, DC, 2005-10-27, webpage:

FEMA-1604-pdf
."Information Relating to the Federal Appropriations for
Katrina Recovery" (January 6, 2006), ''Office of the Governor'',
Mississippi, webpage: "Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour"


.
Regulations were changed later for emergency centers and casinos. The emergency command centers were moved higher because all 3 coastal centers flooded at above sea level. Casinos were allowed on land rather than limited to floating casino barges as in 2005.

More than one million people in Mississippi were affected, and almost 6 months later, the extent of the devastation in Mississippi was still described as "staggering" in ''USA Today'' on February 16, 2006:
"SIX MONTHS AFTER KATRINA: AN OVERVIEW" (short summary),
Office of the House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi,
February 28, 2006, file:

HouseGov-Katrina6


"The Mississippi Gulf Coast has been devastated. The extent of the devastation in Mississippi is also staggering. Since Katrina hit, more than half a million people in Mississippi have applied for assistance from FEMA. In a state of just 2.9 million residents, that means more than one in six Mississippians have sought help.

Scattered damage

''General:'' The effects of a hurricane can be scattered across a large area, because hurricanes are large complex storms which spawn smaller thunderstorms, tornadoes, storm surges, and sea waves. Wind speeds east of the eye can be higher than winds west of the eye. Wind gusts can be scattered, so boats or debris can ram one house but not another. One building can seem untouched, while others nearby are flattened; also trees can be partly weakened: tree limbs can fall months later, crashing onto a roof, automobile, fence, etc.

''Specific:'' Because Hurricane Katrina became a massive storm,

Rob Marciano (CNN Meteorologist), Transcript of "Anderson
Cooper 360 Degrees" (2006-08-29) 19:00 ET, ''CNN'', CNN.com web:

CNN-ACooper082906

"ROB MARCIANO, CNN Meteorologist: Responds to Anderson Cooper that the governor preferred that folks did not go out on the streets because the "streets are literally littered with kitchen appliances."

over wide, not only the eyewall-path, and storm surge, but also the outer bands

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