Which 2005 hurricane devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast?

The 2005 hurricane that devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast was Hurricane Katrina.

Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005, crossed South Florida, and strengthened rapidly after entering the Gulf of Mexico. It reached Category 5 intensity on August 28 before weakening to Category 3 strength at landfall in southeastern Louisiana on August 29. Its storm surge devastated coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

New Orleans suffered catastrophic flooding after breaches and failures in the city’s flood-protection system. About 80 percent of the city was inundated, with some neighborhoods under many feet of water. The disaster exposed weaknesses in levee design, maintenance, evacuation planning, and emergency response, making Katrina both a natural catastrophe and a major infrastructure crisis.

Katrina caused an estimated $125 billion in damage and killed 1,392 people according to widely cited figures. Hurricane Rita struck the Gulf Coast later in 2005, while Harvey and Sandy occurred in different years. Katrina’s landfall date is the key detail: August 29, 2005.