Chapter Chapter 3
Section The Storm Approaches
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The Storm Approaches
As the sun set on Sunday, August 28, rain began to fall and the Gulf Coast had already started to feel Hurricane Katrina’s effects.158 The storm’s high winds and hail forced public safety agencies across the Gulf Coast to curtail their operations. Traffic remained heavy on some highways as people tried to escape the storm in the final hours before second landfall.In shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and residences across the Gulf Coast, people held their breath, hoping that Hurricane Katrina’s impact would not be catastrophic. Federal, State, and local governments were poised to continue emergency activities as soon as Hurricane Katrina had passed. State and local governments, supported by the Federal government and FEMA, had carried out unprecedented preparations in comparison to those made for previous, “average” hurricanes.But Hurricane Katrina was not average, as would soon become vividly clear—it was a fierce hurricane with high wind speeds and a near-record storm surge that was heading directly toward a densely-populated urban area, much of which lay below sea level—six feet below on average across the city.159 In less than twenty-four hours, Hurricane Katrina would change the region, its people, and the Nation.
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