This storm was initially not supposed to be as bad as it turned out. It was suggested that it would be a Category 3 at most, but they were not that lucky. Katrina initially started as a tropical depression, which is a lesser version of a tropical storm. The tropical depression started weakening, but a band of low pressure moved through and caused it to become stronger and eventually turned into a hurricane. It hit land at a Category 3 hurricane, but in very short time moved its way up to a Category 5. Katrina is the largest hurricane to ever strike the United States, and it is the third strongest based on wind speed and damage. Based on the hurricane's intensity, Katrina falls behind The Great Galveston Hurricane which occurred in Texas in 1900 and killed over 12,000 people, and the Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928 which hit Florida and killed 3,000 people. During hurricane Katrina, almost 2,000 people died, but 705 people are still yet to be found. Erik D Olson of the Natural Resources Defense Council refers to hurricane Katrina as “... the single worst environmental catastrophe ever to befall the United States as a result of a natural disaster.” Although this quote describes partially how bad this hurricane was, no words can describe how much this disaster changed these people's lives