Hurricane Katrina, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, 2005

The following photo was taken from the third floor balcony of Saint Stanislaus College located next door to Our Lady of the Gulf church in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi on the morning of August 29, 2005. This is believed to be the initial tidal wave from Hurricane Katrina. The tidal wave was approximately 35 to 40 feet high. When it slammed into the beach front communities of Bay Saint Louis and Waveland Mississippi, it completely destroyed 99% of every structure for nine miles along the beach and over a mile inland. The destruction only started there; the flooding that continued inland destroyed the contents of all but 35 homes in these two communities of approximately 14,000 people.