The chronology of the storm coupled with the decisions and dispositions
made by officials is revealing. This section is about what happened
from the time the emergency was recognized until the city filled with
flood waters after the storm receded.
Click the image for NOAA's official story then come back for more.
The image to the right is the NOAA windfield map for August 29, 2005. It
shows the maximum sustained winds in miles per hour experienced across
the Gulf Coast during the storm. As you can see the highest winds of
140 mph were only experienced over open waters. Punishing sustained
winds of 110-120 and a storm surge of 20+ feet hit the Mississippi
River mouth and later 27 feet of surge hit Gulfport, MS area. Biloxi, MS experienced
the storm's highly destructive northeast quadrant. Tornados ripped up
anything that gusts left undamaged. New Orleans East saw 100-110 mph
winds but in the majority of New Orleans sustained winds maxed out at
under 100.
Other timelines.
The Times Picayune news archive provides details as the story unfolded.
USC Annenberg Online Journalism Project A timeline of government response to Hurricane Katrina