2005: Hundreds of people died after Hurricane Katrina made landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana early in the morning. It's considered one of the worst natural disasters ever to strike the United States. Hurricane Katrina first crossed the state of Florida and then strengthened to a Category Five hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico with winds of 175 mph before turning north. Although winds decreased to Category 3 level before landfall, the storm resulted in levees in New Orleans being breached. The broken levees resulted in flooding in 80 percent of the city within 24 hours with some areas under 20 feet of water. (Source: Library of Congress)