70 A BICENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI HURRICANE KATRINA HURRICANE KATRINA’S THIRD LANDFALL HIT THE LOUISIANA-MISSISSIPPI BORDER ON AUGUST 29, 2005 AS A CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE. The Mississippi Gulf Coast suffered deaths and billions of dollars in damage. The hurricane travelled up the entire state, and all eighty-two counties were declared disaster areas. The highest unofficial wind speed recorded was 135 miles per hour in Poplarville. The storm came twelve miles inland along rivers and bays and crossed Interstate-ten for miles, as well. Katrina caused eight to ten inches of rain in southwestern Mississippi and produced eleven tornados in the state. More than half of the casinos in Mississippi were damaged and washed inland. The Bay St. Louis-Pass Christian Bridge and the Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge were entirely destroyed. PHOTO COURTESY OF MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY PHOTOS BY BRENDAN HOLDER