Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans Hornets Suns on December 21, 2005, and they played the first professional sports event in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina on March 8, 2006, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Hornets completed the 2005–06 season by winning 38 games, tenth in the Western Conference. They became the first team since the 1974–75 Boston Celtics to play home games at four separate venues: the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, and the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The Hornets had finished last in attendance
Hurricane preparedness for New Orleans from the Mississippi River. In 1947, the Fort Lauderdale hurricane struck the New Orleans area. There was moderate wind damage. Flood prevention was largely successful in Orleans Parish, but there was severe flooding in the new East Jefferson suburbs near the Lake. Hurricane Flossy in 1956 resulted in flooding in parts of Eastern New Orleans. Hurricane Betsy in 1965 alerted a new generation to the threat posed by major hurricanes. As radar showed the storm heading for the city, a mandatory evacuation of Eastern New Orleans was declared. The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal channeled storm surge into the metro area.