When Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29th, 2005, the Mississippi Gulf Coast actually got hit the worst. The eye of the storm was right on Gulfport, Mississippi, and 174 MPH winds where blowing for 12 hours on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Though it is true that New Orleans suffered worse flooding due to it being under sea-level, the Mississippi Gulf Coast experienced more winds than New Orleans did. The MS Gulf Coast still got some pretty serious flooding, up to 9 feet. The first day Katrina hit, the media was centering attention to the MS Gulf Coast, and often said that "New Orleans dodged a bullet". But then, later that night, the levees broke in New Orleans and the news totally forgot about Mississippi and then centered all of their attention to New Orleans, even though the levees breaking in New Orleans meant even worse flooding for Mississippi. The water in New Orleans pushed up into the Mississippi River, went around the East Side of New Orleans (which is technically an island), and up on to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, which was still suffering from extreme winds.
Many people in both New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast will tell you that Katrina hit worse on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, however the media likes to tell everyone that it hit New Orleans, and only New Orleans...Many people think the death count in Louisana vs. the death count in Mississippi means that it hit New Orleans the worst, but you have to remember that the population of New Orleans and it's metro area was much larger than the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
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