Hurricane Katrina made its second and third landfalls in the Gulf Coast region on August 29, 2005 as a Category 3 hurricane.
On Monday August 29 area affiliates of local television station WDSU reported New Orleans was experiencing widespread flooding due to several Army Corps-built levee breaches, was without power, and that there were several instances of catastrophic damage in residential and business areas. Entire neighborhoods on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain were flooded.
The extensive flooding stranded many residents, who remained so long after Hurricane Katrina had passed. Stranded survivors dotted the tops of houses citywide. Some were trapped inside attics, unable to escape. Many people chopped their way onto their roofs with hatchets and sledge hammers, which Mayor Nagin had residents urged to store in their attics in case of such events.[23] Clean water was unavailable, and power outages were expected to last for weeks.