The American Red Cross estimates that Hurricane Katrina relief efforts will exceed $2 billion, meeting the urgent needs of nearly one million families (American Red Cross).

An estimated 9.7 million people living in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi experienced hurricane force winds (US Census).

When it made landfall, Katrina was a Category Four storm featuring gusts topping 140 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour). Category Five storms Hurricane Camille, which struck the Mississippi coast in 1969, and Hurricane Allen, which made landfall near Brownsville, Texas, in 1980, both packed maximum sustained winds of about 190 miles per hour (306 kilometers per hour) (National Geographic News).

Since Hurricane Katrina made landfall, the Red Cross has provided nearly 400,000 hurricane survivors with more than 2.8 million overnight stays in 1,250 shelters across 25 states and the District of Columbia (American Red Cross).

An estimated 80 percent of New Orleans was under water, up to 20 feet deep in places (Associated Press).

The deadliest U.S. hurricane on record was a Category Four storm that hit the island city of Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900. Lacking today's warning forecasts, some 8,000 people lost their lives when the island was destroyed by 15-foot (5-meter) waves and 130 miles per hour (210 kilometers per hour) winds. (National Geographic News)