Hurricanes have always been a part of Alabama and the Gulf coast. Their paths have varied wildly, as have the amount of damage they caused. In recognition of the start of the 2015 hurricane season, we plan to recap over the next two weeks some of the major hurricanes that have affected the Gulf region over the past 90 years. We begin today with one of the deadliest and costliest hurricanes on record, Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina

Landfall: August 29, 2005

Level: Category 5

U.S. Deaths: 1,836 *

Highest wind level: 175 mph

Katrina is the costliest hurricane in U.S. history and the third-deadliest. When it made landfall it was only a Category 3, but that is misleading. Destruction was catastrophic for miles inland. The storm surge reached 25-28 feet above normal tide along the Mississippi coast. The wind and rain forced Lake Pontchartrain to breach its levees, inundating much of New Orleans. More than 1,800 Americans were killed, including nearly 1,600 in Louisiana and more than 230 in Mississippi.

*figures may vary

SOURCE: National Hurricane Center, hurricanescience.org, Wikipedia.org