On August 29th, 2005 one of the worst weather disasters in US history struck the LA/MS Gulf Coast area, including the cities of Gulfport and New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina. Locally, there was a significant weather event brewing in Western KY, with moisture from Hurricane Katrina merging with a stalled-out cold front over our area.

When this happened in the morning and throughout the day of August 29th, a very localized band of very heavy rain formed from Land Between the Lakes, through the Hopkinsville area, and into Northern/Central Todd Counties. This produced up to 11 inches of rain, flooded dozens of roads, destroyed over 40 structures, produced over 5 million dollars in damage, and sadly caused 1 fatality.

In addition, gusty winds produced 35-50MPH as Katrina passed over Christian County still as a Tropical Depression, producing tropical storm force winds and creating 10,000 power outages from Murray/Hopkinsville area toward Paducah. This is a very rare instance where a former hurricane still had some tropical characteristics over our area.

Reasons Why This Event was Significant:

• It produced 1 fatality
• It was one of the very rare instances of a tropical system, still maintaining some tropical characteristics over this area
• It was part of one of the most significant hurricanes in US History