Hurricane Katrina Commemorative Collection

Hurricane Katrina may well be the most exhaustively chronicled natural disaster in history. Over the course of 72 hours, a cataclysmic storm became a catastrophic flood, which in turn became an apocalyptic human tragedy.

Its path and power were known. Its imminent arrival was certain. Yet somehow, when Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Louisiana coast with Category 4 winds and a storm surge that would drown most of New Orleans, no one was prepared for the chaos it unleashed. Now relive the onslaught of the monster storm that blind-sided America, caught officials off guard, and doomed thousands of victims in one of the most devastating natural disasters of modern times. National Geographic takes you Inside Hurricane Katrina to shed new light on the fateful decisions of those in charge - and the desperate struggles of those fighting to survive the awesome impact of one of nature's ultimate weapons of mass destruction.