Hurricane Katrina (2005)
Amid all the human drama of the French Quarter, it avoided one of the largest disasters of New Orleans history, one that flooded and damaged roughly 80% of the city, Hurricane Katrina. The French Quarter was built above sea level and remained mostly unflooded. The higher terrain is why the settlers chose the spot for initial settlement in the first place.
Comparatively, the damage was nowhere near the horrors in the Lower Ninth Ward and other districts. 9% of the French Quarter district flooded in Katrina. The most impacted areas were North Rampart, Burgundy, Dauphine and Bourbon Streets, typically only one to four blocks along each street. These areas had always been prone to flooding and had done so regularly until settlement in the 1700s brought levees to help tame the water. But most of the Quarter sat unflooded and undamaged from the storm.
