Hurricane preparedness for New Orleans two months later. Hurricane Katrina threatened the city in August 2005. The eye of the huge storm grazed the eastern side of the city, sparing it from the worst of its power. However, due to poorly designed levees and the worst civil engineering failure in United States history, most of the city experienced flooding similar to a direct hit; see: Levee failures in Greater New Orleans, 2005. There were many predictions of hurricane risk in New Orleans before Katrina. On August 26 the storm, at one point up to a Category 5, was in the Gulf with a projection to
Hurricane preparedness for New Orleans floodgate structures and raising existing levees. The report also suggested that the chances of a major Category 5 hurricane directly striking New Orleans was a one-in-500-year event. In 2001, the "Houston Chronicle" published a story which predicted that a severe hurricane striking New Orleans, "would strand 250,000 people or more, and probably kill one of 10 left behind as the city drowned under of water. Thousands of refugees could end up in Houston." In 2002, "The Times Picayune" published a feature covering various scenarios, including a Category 5 hurricane hitting the city from the south. The series also explored the