CaptionSmoke rises over the downtown area after Hurricane Katrina. When Katrina made landfall on August 29 it took 1,836 lives and caused over US$ 75 billion damage, making it the deadliest hurricane for nearly a century and the most expensive natural disaster in US history. More than 1.5 million people were displaced in what became an humanitarian crisis on a scale not experienced in the US since the Great Depression in 1930s. Katrina also caused a political storm, as the chaotic reaction to the catastrophe highlighted inadequate planning and an absence of cooperation between local, state and federal bodies. President Bush, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Homeland Security, Louisiana's governor, as well as the New Orleans police force and mayor's office all came in for considerable criticism.
