Hurricane preparedness in New Orleans has been an issue since the city's early settlement because of its location.
Vertical cross-section of New Orleans, showing maximum levee height of 23 feet.
Hurricanes of Category 3 or greater passing within 100 miles of New Orleans 1852–2005. from NOAA
Evacuation route sign on Tulane Avenue in New Orleans shows lines from long-standing flood waters, after Hurricane Katrina.
Windows of building in Uptown New Orleans being boarded up in preparation of a possible threat from Hurricane Gustav, August 28, 2008.
Hurricane Ernesto (2006)
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Hurricane Ernesto was the costliest tropical cyclone of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. The sixth tropical storm and first hurricane of the season, Ernesto developed from a tropical wave on August 24 in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Ernesto first affected the northern Caribbean, reaching minimal hurricane status near Haiti before weakening and moving across eastern Cuba as a tropical storm. Despite initial predictions for it to track through the eastern Gulf of Mexico as a major hurricane, Ernesto moved across eastern Florida as a weak tropical storm. After turning to the northeast, it re-intensified and made landfall on August 31 on the North Carolina coast just below hurricane status. Late the next day, Ernesto became extratropical after entering southern Virginia. The remnants spread moisture across the northeastern United States before dissipating over eastern Canada on September 4.
Tropical Storm Ernesto intensifying along the Atlantic coast on August 31
Atlantis heads back to Launch Pad 39B to ride out Ernesto
Fallen tree branch in Richmond, Virginia, caused by winds from Ernesto