Hurricane season in the United States starts from June 1 and ends on November 30. That’s not saying, however, that hurricanes don’t occur outside of this period.
In Mississippi, hurricanes often appear as early as June. This is because the state is located along the Gulf Coast, and this area is among the first ones to experience hurricanes. However, the Magnolia State is especially prone to hurricanes between August and October.
In total, there have been 30 hurricanes that have made landfall within 50 miles of Biloxi since 1852, according to a WJTV report. Fourteen of these were Category 3 or stronger. The worst of all these hurricanes, however, is none other than Hurricane Katrina.
Hurricane Katrina’s Path of Destruction
Hurricane Katrina is among the worst hurricanes to ever hit the country. The Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ranks it no. 4 in its list of the most intense mainland U.S. hurricanes by central pressure.
The list covers data from 1851 to 2018 and includes Hurricane Michael, Hurricane Camille, and the Category 5 hurricane that hit Florida Keys in 1935. These are the top 3 most intense mainland hurricanes in ascending order.
Hurricane Katrina began as a tropical depression over the southeastern Bahamas on Aug. 23, 2005. It moved into the central Bahamas and became Tropical Storm Katrina the following day.
Katrina continued its westward route while gradually increasing in intensity. On Aug. 25, it made landfall along the southeast Florida coast as a Category 1 hurricane with 80 mph on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
The storm never stopped moving west across south Florida. When it reached the Gulf of Mexico, Katrina intensified once again into a Category 5 hurricane with peak sustained winds of 175 mph.
It would make landfall once again along the northern Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane. It first hit southeast Louisiana bringing with it sustained winds of 125 mph before hitting the Mississippi Gulf Coast, near Hancock County, with sustained winds of 120 mph.
Finally, late on Aug. 29, Katrina weakened below hurricane intensity over east central Mississippi.
Katrina’s Rain, Winds and Tornadoes
The highest wind gust of 135 mph was felt at Poplarville. However, it was in Southeast Mississippi, especially south and east of Columbia to Collins to Laurel line, which received the most devastating damage. These areas experienced sustained winds between 60 and 80 mph with gusts ranging from 80 to 120 mph, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Strong winds resulted in many roofs getting partially peeled off or blown off. Hundreds of signs were shredded or blown down. And, many businesses had their windows broken, their walls collapsed, and their roofs blown off.
Millions of trees were also snapped and uprooted, and power poles too went down along with these downed trees or from the wind. Some trees fell onto homes and businesses, and fatalities in Jones County were mostly caused by trees falling onto homes or on people.
But, it wasn’t just strong winds that Mississippians had to deal with. There were also around a dozen tornadoes from the outer bands of Hurricane Katrina. They rampaged across Kemper, Lauderdale, Neshoba, and Newton Counties. Eleven tornadoes were rated F1, while two were rated F2.
While a majority of the tornadoes were brief—about 2 to 4 miles on the ground— they managed to down and uproot trees. Some fell on houses, while others downed power lines. Fortunately, no injuries or fatalities were recorded due to these tornadoes.
And, when it comes to rain, 5 to 8 inches of heavy rainfall poured down across Southeast, Central, and Northeast Mississippi between six and 10 hours. The heavy rain overwhelmed many county roads and secondary roads, which flooded to the point where they had to be closed. Several of these roads also experienced a near or complete wash out in their low-lying portions near creeks and bottoms.
The Cost of Hurricane Katrina’s Damages
Hurricane Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone to ever hit the United States. That is, in terms of the cost of destruction brought about by hurricanes that hit the country, no other hurricane surpasses Katrina as of this writing.
According to the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Katrina resulted in $187 billion in damages (adjusted to 2022 dollars). Damage in Mississippi alone is estimated at $32 billion (adjusted to 2015 dollars).
Industrial Damage of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina dealt an enormous blow on the Magnolia State’s timber, poultry, and other agricultural industries.
Damage to the Timber Industry
As already mentioned, millions of trees were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. A large percentage of the trees in the timber industry were either severely damaged or blown down by the hurricane’s strong high winds.
According to the estimation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, nearly 3.5 million acres of forestland in Mississippi were severely affected by Hurricane Katrina. This is equivalent to timber losses of up to 3 billion cubic feet with a commercial value of about $1.3 billion. It is expected that the effects of this hurricane’s devastation will be felt for decades in the timber industry.
Damage to the Agricultural Industry
Hurricane Katrina also impacted many agricultural industries, including the poultry industry. Thanks to the one-two punch of strong winds and power outages, the industry lost birds and chicken houses were damaged to the tune of an estimated $100 to $120 million. There were about 9,000 chicken houses holding 20,000-25,000 chickens before the hurricane ravaged Mississippi.
Row Crops, which include corn, rice, cotton, and soybeans, also suffered damages. However, the amount or degree of damage varied, depending on the location, but the total damage is estimated to be about $100 million.
Another industry hit by Katrina was the catfish industry. A combination of power outages and damaged levees led to disease and stress-induced conditions, leading to an estimated $100 million in damages.
The dairy and cattle industry in the region also suffered an estimated damage of $30 million, and nursery plants suffered an estimated $18 million in damages.
Hurricane Katrina’s Death Toll
Beyond the dollar signs, Hurricane Katrina’s worst impact was with the number of people who died. Katrina is one of the deadliest hurricanes ever to hit the country. It follows the hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas in 1900 and the Florida hurricane of 1928. Both were Category 4 hurricanes, with death tolls ranging from 3,000 to 12,000.
The loss of human lives directly attributed to Hurricane Katrina registered to 1,500. Of this figure, 238 deaths were in Mississippi. This was almost double the 143 deaths in the Gulf Coast caused by Hurricane Camille, another significant storm in the state and the country.