On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in Louisiana near the mouth of the Mississippi River. The storm caused extensive flooding and an estimated $125 billion worth of damage in its wake. AgCenter file photo
The LSU AgCenter Coastal Area Research Station (known as the Citrus Research Station in 2005) was located near Port Sulphur in lower Plaquemines Parish. This aerial photo was taken the day after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. AgCenter file photo
A traveling lift carries a repaired ship, the Pat-Al, through a shipyard crowded with rows of boats damaged by the hurricanes. The hoist, a Marine Travelift, was donated to Plaquemines Parish by the citizens of Valdez, Alaska. AgCenter file photo
A boat sits capsized after Hurricane Katrina. One of the greatest obstacles to the rebound of the state’s commercial fishing industry was that Katrina and Rita virtually destroyed all the infrastructure. AgCenter file photo
Todd Tarifa, who now serves as the AgCenter associate director of youth development, was a West Baton Rouge 4-H Youth Development agent in 2005. He and former East Baton Rouge Parish agent David Carter unload meals at the Baton Rouge River Center which was housing 6,000 evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. AgCenter file photo
A pair of natural disasters stunned south Louisiana in 2005.When Hurricane Katrina hit the coast on Aug. 29 and Hurricane Rita followed on Sept. 24, much of south Louisiana sustained tremendous damage. The storms caused more than 1,100 deaths, according to the Louisiana Department of Health; displaced several communities; and led to $108 billion in damage, according to the National Weath...
