Hurricane Katrina Floods the Southeastern United States

Hurricane Katrina Floods the Southeastern United States

Only the rectangular support pillars that once held up the Highway 90 bridge spanning Biloxi Bay remained standing after Hurricane Katrina battered the Mississippi shoreline with powerful winds and waves. Sections of pavement crumble into the bay near the shore, while a small span remains standing over the bay itself. Along the top of the image, the railroad bridge seemed to have fared better, but a large section has collapsed just beyond the edge of the image.

A broad field of white specks ripples with the waves on the bay, flowing around the remaining pylons and building up along the railroad bridge. The flecks are a combination of debris floating on the water after Katrina’s storm surge swept structures off the shore and sunlight reflecting off the wind-ruffled surface of the water. The large image shows widespread destruction along the shoreline, with only white foundations where buildings and homes once stood in some places.

The Ikonos satellite captured this image on September 2, 2005, four days after Katrina came ashore.

Image copyright DigitalGlobe.

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