Katrina Makes Landfall as a Cat 4

Posted on August 29, 2005

Hurricane Katrina made lanfall at 610 AM CDT this morning as a Category 4 storm with winds of 140 mph in Southern Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. The storm weakened from a Category 5 before landfall but Katrina was still a large and powerful category 4 storm. Katrina spread damage from wind and surge from New Orleans to Mobile. Here are some of the very early damage reports.

Part of the Superdome's roof was damaged. The Superdome was used as emergency shelter for thousands of New Orleans' residents.

Parts of New Orleans are under six feet of water.

Katrina produced at least a 20 foot storm surge in Gulfport, MS that nearly trapped The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore and producer Simon Temperton.

Reports that it was "raining glass" in parts of New Orleans as windows popped in skyscrapers.

Large storm surge reported in Mobile, Alabama

An oil tanker broke free from its moorings.

Katrina made a second landfall on the Louisiana-Mississippi border. The storm has since been downgraded to a Category 3 storm as it heads north in Mississippi -- which is still a very strong hurricane. Kartina will weaken as it continues to move inland but the National Hurricane Center says it may take as long as 12 hours to wind down to a tropical storm because "Hurricane Katrina has a such a large and powerful circulation that it will probably retain hurricane intensity for about 12 hours."

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