On August 28th 2005, the people of New Orleans in Louisiana were ordered to evacuate the city. Hurricane Katrina, a force storm, was heading their way and finally hit the city at 125 miles an hour. In America's worst ever natural disaster, 1300 people died and thousands were left homeless. The worst hit was the quarter, where many people lived. The richer, French quarter was less affected because it was on . New Orleans is surrounded by water. It is build on the flood plain of the . The flood barriers. called , were only meant to withstand category 3 hurricanes but they were built on and would not even have protected against a category 1 hurricane. percent of the city was underwater after a few hours and in the last few months, only a quarter of the people have come back home. New Orleans is sinking by a year. Because humans have tried to change the natural course of the river to make more land for building, the marshlands that would soak up some of the flood water are vanishing, Some people say it is a bad idea to rebuild the city. It is below sea level and sea levels are rising. Some people think in 30 years it might be the modern day Atlantis.