Question 1

True or false: Katrina made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Accepted Answer

False. Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near Buras, Louisiana, with 125 mph winds.

Question 2

True or false: Levee failures in New Orleans were primarily due to design flaws and poor maintenance, not just the storm's intensity.

Accepted Answer

True. Investigations found that the levees were poorly engineered and maintained, making them fail under less-than-design conditions.

Question 3

True or false: The Superdome was fully stocked with food and water for evacuees before Katrina hit.

Accepted Answer

False. The Superdome had only a 3-day supply of emergency rations and water, which ran out quickly after the storm.

Question 4

True or false: Hurricane Katrina was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history, causing over $125 billion in damage.

Accepted Answer

True. Katrina remains the costliest hurricane in U.S. history when adjusted for inflation, with damages exceeding $125 billion.

Question 5

True or false: Most of New Orleans was evacuated before Katrina struck, saving thousands of lives.

Accepted Answer

False. Around 100,000 residents, mostly poor and without transportation, remained in the city despite evacuation orders.

Question 6

True or false: Katrina caused an oil spill that was the largest in U.S. history at the time.

Accepted Answer

True. The storm caused the Murphy Oil spill and other releases, but it was not the largest—that was the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill.

Question 7

True or false: The federal response to Katrina was delayed because local officials refused to ask for help.

Accepted Answer

False. Local officials did request aid, but bureaucratic red tape and miscommunication caused a slow federal response.

Question 8

True or false: The storm surge from Katrina reached over 30 feet in some areas along the Mississippi coast.

Accepted Answer

True. A 28-foot storm surge was recorded in Pass Christian, Mississippi, with some estimates of 30+ feet in localized spots.

Hurricane Katrina Trivia Questions