Hurricane | USA

90The Gulf Coast of the USA has a long history of hurricanes. These are becoming more intense and frequent, largely due to climate change. In August 2005, one of the fiercest hurricanes in recent history – Hurricane Katrina – hit the coastal states fringing the Gulf, with physical devastation extending far inland. Hurricane Katrina killed more than 1800 people, injured more than 5000, and inflicted $US108 billion damage to property. It displaced more than one million people and damaged one million housing units, more than half of which were in Louisiana, the worst-affected state, and 220,000 of which were in Mississippi. ¹ , ² , ³ , ⁴ , ⁵