This Day in History: br Hurricane Katrina br Slams Into Gulf Coast August 29, 2005 The Category 4 hurricanebr became the worst naturalbr disaster in U.S. history. The city br of New Orleans bore the brunt. 145 mph winds turned cars br into projectiles and overwhelmed br poorly tended levees that protected br the city, located six feet below sea level. Though an evacuation order br had been issued by the New Orleans br mayor, tens of thousands stayed br behind, many with no other recourse. 80 of the city experienced massive flooding. br A full scale rescue effort took two days to begin. As most of those who remained were African br American, the perceived poor response of U.S. br government agencies and President George W. Bush br brought racial inequalities in America to the surface. Katrina led to more than 1,300 deaths, br displaced one million people, left almost a br half a million unemployed and caused up to $150 br billion in damages to public and private property.