Bay St. Louis is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Mississippi, in the United States. Located on the Gulf Coast on the west side of the Bay of St. Louis, it is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,284 at the 2020 census, up from 9,260 at the 2010 census.
Six Flags Great America is a 304-acre (123 ha) amusement park located in Gurnee, Illinois, within the northern Chicago metropolitan area. The amusement park originally opened as Marriott's Great America on May 29, 1976, as one of two theme parks built by the Marriott Corporation. Six Flags acquired the amusement park in 1984 after the theme park division was an earnings disappointment for Marriott. The sale gave Six Flags rights to the Looney Tunes intellectual properties.
Six Flags New Orleans is an abandoned theme park located near the intersection of Interstate 10 and Interstate 510 in New Orleans. It first opened as Jazzland in 2000, and a leasing agreement was established with Six Flags in 2002 following the previous operator's bankruptcy proceedings. Six Flags invested $20 million in upgrades, and the park reopened as Six Flags New Orleans in 2003. Following the substantial damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, the park remained closed to the public in order to make efforts to repair and reopen it. However, in 2009, the city of New Orleans ended its 75-year lease with Six Flags, and the park consequently became permanently closed due to the extreme damage that was too severe to be repaired.
Hurricane Katrina was a devastating Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that resulted in 1,392 fatalities and caused damage estimated between $97.4 billion to $145.5 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding areas. At the time, it was the costliest tropical cyclone on record, tied now with Hurricane Harvey of 2017. Katrina was the twelfth tropical cyclone, the fifth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was also the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record to make landfall in the contiguous United States.
As the center of Hurricane Katrina passed southeast of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, winds downtown were in the Category 1 range with frequent intense gusts. The storm surge caused approximately 23 breaches in the drainage canal and navigational canal levees and flood walls. As mandated in the Flood Control Act of 1965, responsibility for the design and construction of the city's levees belongs to the United States Army Corps of Engineers and responsibility for their maintenance belongs to the Orleans Levee Board. The failures of levees and flood walls during Katrina are considered by experts to be the worst engineering disaster in the history of the United States. By August 31, 2005, 80% of New Orleans was flooded, with some parts under 15 feet (4.6 m) of water. The famous French Quarter and Garden District escaped flooding because those areas are above sea level. The major breaches included the 17th Street Canal levee, the Industrial Canal levee, and the London Avenue Canal flood wall. These breaches caused the majority of the flooding, according to a June 2007 report by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The flood disaster halted oil production and refining which increased oil prices worldwide.
The Lower Ninth Ward is a neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. As the name implies, it is part of the 9th Ward of New Orleans. The Lower Ninth Ward is often thought of as the entire area within New Orleans downriver of the Industrial Canal; however, the City Planning Commission divides this area into the Lower Ninth Ward and Holy Cross neighborhoods.
Fort Pike State Historic Site is a decommissioned 19th-century United States fort, named after Brigadier General Zebulon Pike. It was built following the War of 1812 to guard the Rigolets pass in Louisiana, a strait from the Gulf of Mexico, via Lake Borgne, to Lake Pontchartrain bordering New Orleans. It was located near the community of Petite Coquille, now within the city limits of New Orleans.
The Jester is a steel roller coaster located at the abandoned Six Flags New Orleans amusement park in New Orleans. Built and designed by Vekoma, the ride originally opened at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in 1996 as The Joker's Revenge. After its closure in 2001, the coaster was sent to Six Flags New Orleans where it became The Jester. The ride opened to the public at Six Flags New Orleans on April 13, 2003. Following the devastation to the amusement park in August 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, the roller coaster ceased operation following the park's closure but remains standing.
The National Weather Service bulletin for the New Orleans region of 10:11 a.m., August 28, 2005, was a particularly dire warning issued by the local Weather Forecast Office in Slidell, Louisiana, warning of the devastation that Hurricane Katrina could wreak upon the Gulf Coast of the United States, and the torrent of pain, misery and suffering that would follow once the storm left the area.
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts is a 2006 documentary film directed by Spike Lee about the devastation of New Orleans, Louisiana following the failure of the levees during Hurricane Katrina. It was filmed in late August and early September 2005, and premiered at the New Orleans Arena on August 16, 2006 and was first aired on HBO the following week. The television premiere aired in two parts on August 21 and 22, 2006 on HBO. It has been described by Sheila Nevins, chief of HBO's documentary unit, as "one of the most important films HBO has ever made." The title is a reference to the blues tune "When the Levee Breaks" by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.
Hurricane on the Bayou is an American 2006 documentary film that focuses on the wetlands of Louisiana before and after Hurricane Katrina.
The Hyatt Regency New Orleans is a 32-story, 361-foot -tall hotel located at 601 Loyola Ave in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It has 1,193 guest rooms, including 95 suites. It is part of a complex of connected buildings, which includes the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, 1250 Poydras Plaza, Entergy Tower, and the Benson Tower. Originally opened in 1976, it was designed by Welton Becket and Associates. The Hyatt was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and remained closed for six years, until 2011.
Goliath is an inverted roller coaster located at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Designed by Werner Stengel and Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, Goliath initially opened in 1995 at an amusement park in Japan, and has been operating at Six Flags Fiesta Texas since 2008. It stands at a height of 105 feet (32 m), reaches a maximum speed of 50 mph (80 km/h), and features multiple inversions.
America's WETLAND Foundation (AWF) was a nonprofit, tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization with the stated mission to save and conserve coastal wetlands in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The organization aimed to achieve this mission through a public awareness campaign on the impact Louisiana's wetland loss has on the state, region, nation and world.
Mega Zeph is a wooden roller coaster located at the abandoned Six Flags New Orleans theme park, in the Eastern New Orleans area of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally opening on May 20, 2000, as Jazzland's signature ride, the coaster has been abandoned and left in a state of decay as a result of the park's closure following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It is currently standing but not operating.
Muskrat Scrambler is a steel roller coaster located at the now abandoned Six Flags New Orleans in Louisiana. Manufactured by L&T Systems, the ride opened in the Jazzland section of the park on May 20, 2000. The roller coaster ceased operation following the abrupt closure of the amusement park as a result of the impact from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It is currently standing but not operating.
Zydeco Scream is a steel roller coaster located at abandoned Six Flags New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana. Manufactured by Vekoma, the Boomerang coaster model opened to the public on June 10, 2000. It closed following the permanent closure of the park in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Remnants of the ride remain standing in disrepair at the defunct park. Prior to Six Flags New Orleans, the ride operated at Parc de Montjuic in Barcelona, Spain from 1990 to 1998.
DC Comics Super Hero Adventures was a DC Comics themed area found at Six Flags New Orleans, in the Eastern New Orleans area of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. It opened on April 12, 2003, after Six Flags took over the lease of the park in 2002 and added the company's signature Warner Bros. characters and themes.
Floodlines is an eight-part podcast miniseries about Hurricane Katrina hosted by Vann R. Newkirk II and produced by The Atlantic.
Katrina Babies is a 2022 documentary film, directed by Edward Buckles Jr. It explores the narratives of kids who experienced Hurricane Katrina and the impact of the storm’s aftermath on New Orleans youth. It premiered at the Tribeca Festival on June 14, 2022 and was released on HBO Max on August 24, 2022.
