In late August 2005 Hurricane Katrina struck the US Gulf Coast and overwhelmed the levee system protecting New Orleans, flooding around four-fifths of the city. More than 1,800 people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced, with the worst impacts falling on low-lying, predominantly poor and Black neighbourhoods. The failure of engineered flood defences and the slow official response drew intense scrutiny. Reconstruction reshaped the city's population, housing stock and footprint, with some districts shrinking permanently.
It exposed how engineered flood protection, race and class intersect in disaster, and became a reference point for managed retreat, resilience planning and equity in rebuilding.