MUMBAI: Today 12 September 2005, The History Channel in the US will present a special that looks at Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans.
 
 

Katrina: American Catastrophe will explore the history, the science, and the technology behind what happened in the city of New Orleans. It will also examine the uncertain future that lies ahead.

As Hurricane Katrina lurched across the Gulf of Mexico and toward New Orleans in the sticky heat of late August, residents of the 'The Big Easy' began to dread that the disaster they had long feared was at hand. Knowing the city's unique and dubious layout left it susceptible to major flooding, they fled in droves, but many stayed behind, some by choice, some because they were unable to leave.

Initially the outlook was hopeful, as the
city was spared a direct hit by the category 4 storm. But when the levees holding back water from nearby Lake Pontchartrain began to break, the catastrophe that many experts had been predicting could happen -- did happen.
Three days after Katrina hit, much of New Orleans was underwater.
 
 

The special tracks the days leading up to the storm. It looks at the rich history of the city of New Orleans, which was founded in 1718, and complex geology, and the city's key role in the U.S. economy. It explores what can be done in the future to better protect this fragile city and the region. Many experts in fields such as engineering, geology, history, economics, meteorology and geography were interviewed for the special to give a complete picture of what happened and why.

Among the topics covered in the special include Why New Orleans was built in such a vulnerable location, How it was both highly accessible and tremendously vulnerable, how the relative high ground and proximity to the mouth of the Mississippi River offered easy access to Lake Pontchartrain and an outlet to the sea and trading routes