Photo: Water spills over a levee along the inner harbor Navigational Canal in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on August 30, 2005, in New Orleans.
New Orleans woke up with an uneasy sense of déjà vu Tuesday as it kept a wary eye on Tropical Storm Harvey while marking the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Katrina made landfall in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, on August 29, 2005, but its aftermath became the truly historic catastrophe. Federal levees and floodwalls crumbled, ushering powerful storm surge into the city and leaving 80 percent of New Orleans underwater for weeks. More than 1,500 people were killed and 200,000 properties were damaged.
Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts
Now, Louisiana is reviewing lessons learned from the deadly storm, as Harvey’s outer bands could douse the state over the coming days, Gov. John Bel Edwards said.
Harvey is expected to make landfall Tuesday night or Wednesday morning along the Louisiana-Texas border, said Andy Patrick, National Weather Service meteorologist-in-charge at the Lake Charles Weather Forecast Office. It will bring winds of 30-40 mph and a 2-4 foot storm surge.
Already, 500 people were rescued overnight Monday amid flooding in and around Lake Charles, in western Louisiana, the governor said.
“The Katrina situation is one that ever since then, we know how to deal with rain, we know how to deal with floods,” Edwards told CNN’s Chris Cuomo Tuesday. “We’ve got a lot of experienced people. We’ve got the right equipment.”
“One of the things we’re trying to do is be the best neighbor possible to Texas, because they were very gracious and hospitable. They took in a lot of people after Katrina, if you remember,” Edwards said. “And they remain the center of gravity as it relates to Harvey. … So we are trying to focus on preparing for and responding to the storm here in Louisiana, but also trying to help our neighbor in Texas.”