Hurricane Nightmares Became Headlines

Two years ago...
Hurricane Katrina's category 4 winds and tidal surge hit New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005. The catastrophe left 1,464 dead in its wake.

• By 9 a.m. that day, fears of a disaster had us preparing the rare "EXTRA" edition to get the word out.
• Reports of flooding neighborhoods and levee breaches were unfolding by noon.
• Nightmares of a worst-case scenario were being realized by 2 p.m. Reports of Lower Ninth Ward flooding included anecdotes about people hacking their way through attics onto rooftops.
• Heroes came out of the woodwork. Every boat found was put to work.

The next 48 hours would leave most of New Orleans under water. Chaos ensued and headlines across the country shifted from a focus on the Mississippi coast to New Orleans as people realized a major metropolitan center was drowning.
Most of us will never forget the cacophony from the Superdome that caught local, state and federal leaders flatfooted. Those images stain their legacy. Review Katrina numbers.

The nations' front pages on Aug. 30, Aug. 31, Sept. 1 and Sept. 2 were overcome by the disaster. See more dates and other major news front pages in the Newseum's archive of front pages.