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© The Times-Picayune.

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Katrina graphics page.

New Orleans Canals
A historical look at New Orleans canals and population sprawl from the 1720s to present, and then Katrina. Basically, this graphic shows that the flooded areas were once uninhabited swamps. As the city grew, more canals were needed to keep the new neighborhoods (swamps) dry. The oldest areas of the city did not flood since they were originally built on the higher ground near the Mississippi River.

Victims Of Katrina: Where They Were Found
This big map plots the locations where bodies were found after the storm. Map also shows the flooded areas of the city.

Multiple Lines Of Defense
This graphic shows one of the many ideas sprouting up from planning experts.

Katrina's Initial Track
The first tracking map we did before the storm shifted toward New Orleans. We thought we were in the clear at first.
How Much Water Did You Get?
I was getting frustrated that nobody had released a map showing the overall picture of flooding. So, I spent many hours plotting the estimated flood depth throughout New Orleans using a website that showed the maximum flood depths when you clicked on a certain location.
Water Emptying After Levee Breaches
Okay, so the maximum flood depths map was cool and helpful for readers, but how much water remained in the city?
X Marks Your House
Nearly every house in New Orleans was searched for bodies and hazards, then the findings were noted by a spray paint marking left on the front of homes. This graphic explains what the cryptic markings mean.
Picking Up The Pieces
Being a homeowner in New Orleans myself, I discovered quickly that clean-up crews would pick up your hurricane debris quicker if it was separated. So I spoke with the Army Corps of Engineers and some contractors to create this graphic as a valuable reader service.
Super-sized Task
Just how much trash/debris did Katrina leave in her wake? Billions of tons??? What does that mean?
Murphy Oil Spill
This is just a simple locator, but if you could drive through this area like I did, you would see some why it is such a huge story for the homeowners in Chalmette.
Why Did The Floodwalls Fail?
Well, multiple reasons according to what we have found out so far, but when this graphic was created, speculation was the primary theme.
New Orleans Nights
After driving around post-Katrina New Orleans at night, I thought it would be very cool to show the readers what I saw ... an eerie, pitch dark reminder of just how many people were left homeless by this super storm. The energy company was not releasing power outage maps, so I drove all over the city, nearly 200 miles to map out the grim picture.
Battle Against The Sea
The Dutch fortified their below sea-level country with state-of-the-art flood control structures after a huge storm killed over a thousand people. This graphic could be a glimpse into the future of New Orleans if the government does what is right.
Assessing The Damage
Inspectors released their preliminary findings on the damage in New Orleans ... don't believe it. This map I created from their data DOES NOT reflect how bad the damage really is.
Deuce Down For Season
If Katrina wasn't bad enough, New Orleans lost their star running-back to an ACL tear. This was my first non-Katrina related graphic in nearly 2 months.
Katrina's Exodus
According to FEMA, New Orleans evacuees spread out to every state in the country. Look closely at this map ... kind of resembles a water balloon being thrown (the storm track) against a wall, dispersing water droplets (people) all over that wall.
Verified Katrina Deaths
This graphic is now outdated, but it still gives you a sense of the number of bodies recovered by day since the storm hit.
When The Levee Breaks Again
When Hurricane Rita struck just one month after Katrina ravaged us, a few of the levee breach patches could not hold back surge from Rita even though she made landfall on other side of Louisiana. It's not safe here.
Butterfly Gate Rejected
A few years ago, officials rejected a great idea for flood control. Take a look at what could have saved New Orleans.
Mother Nature's Fury
I compiled this simple table just to show how insane the 2005 hurricane season had been.
Operations Ceased
Oil production came to a halt in the Gulf of Mexico after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Look at all those drilling platforms! No wonder gas prices soared ... of course none of it was price gouging, right?
Soil Heave
The latest theory on why some levees failed turned out to be fact.
Clearing The Pipes
How crews cleaned out natural gas mains.
Gas Restoration Progress
Another outdated map, but probably still fairly accurate as of 11/30/05.
Flooding Zone
Unbelievable. This graphic is kind of confusing and I will not dare to explain it more than what you see here, but I can tell you that BFE stands for OUTDATED BASE FLOOD ELEVATION.
Crazy Season
Please God, is it over yet?