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Louisiana (French: Louisiane [lwizjan] ; Spanish: Luisiana [lwiˈsjana]; Louisiana Creole: Lwizyàn) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 20th in land area and the 25th in population, with roughly 4.6 million residents. Reflecting its French heritage, Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are equivalent to counties, making it one of only two U.S. states not subdivided into counties (the other being Alaska and its boroughs). Baton Rouge is the state's capital, and New Orleans, a French Louisiana region, is its largest city with a population of about 383,000 people. Louisiana has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the south; a large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River.

Much of Louisiana's lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh and swamp. These contain a rich southern biota, including birds such as ibises and egrets, many species of tree frogs—such as the state recognized American green tree frog—and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. More elevated areas, particularly in the north, contain a wide variety of ecosystems such as tallgrass prairie, longleaf pine forest and wet savannas; these support an exceptionally large number of plant species, including many species of terrestrial orchids and carnivorous plants. Over half the state is forested.

Louisiana is situated at the confluence of the Mississippi river system and the Gulf of Mexico. Its location and biodiversity attracted various indigenous groups thousands of years before Europeans arrived in the 17th century. Louisiana has eighteen Native American tribes—the most of any southern state—of which four are federally recognized and ten are state recognized. The French claimed the territory in 1682, and it became the political, commercial, and population center of the larger colony of New France. After a brief period of Spanish rule, Louisiana was returned to France in 1801 before being purchased by the U.S. in 1803; it was admitted to the Union in 1812 as the 18th state. (Full article...)

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Interstate 55 (I-55) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that spans 964.25 miles (1,551.81 km) from LaPlace, Louisiana, to Chicago, Illinois. Within the state of Louisiana, the highway travels 66 miles (106 km) from the national southern terminus at I-10 in LaPlace to the Mississippi state line north of Kentwood.

The route is located in the southeastern portion of Louisiana and parallels the older U.S. Highway 51 (US 51) corridor. While passing through the city of Hammond, I-55 intersects two of the state's major east–west routes, I-12 and US 190. It also serves the smaller city of Ponchatoula, as well as the towns of Amite City and Kentwood. (Full article...)

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Hurricane Katrina at peak intensity in the Gulf of Mexico on August 28

Hurricane Katrina was a devastating and deadly Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused 1,836 fatalities and damages estimated between $97.4 billion to $145.5 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. At the time, it was the costliest tropical cyclone on record, later tied by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Katrina was the twelfth tropical cyclone, the fifth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was also the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States, gauged by barometric pressure.

Katrina began on August 23, 2005, with the merger of a tropical wave and the remnants of Tropical Depression Ten. Early the following day, the depression intensified into a tropical storm and headed generally westward toward Florida. On August 25, two hours before making landfall at Hallandale Beach, it strengthened into a hurricane. After briefly weakening to tropical storm strength over southern Florida, Katrina entered the Gulf of Mexico on August 26 and rapidly intensified. The storm strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before weakening to a high-end Category 3 hurricane at its second landfall on August 29 over southeast Louisiana and Mississippi. (Full article...)

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