Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans on 29 August 2005, bringing death, destruction and despair. Entire neighbourhoods were wiped out, about 80 percent of the city was underwater and 1,800 people were killed. Over the last seven years, billions of dollars have been spent on rebuilding the city and revamping the levee system, yet the landscape has been altered forever. Here's a look at the city before and after Hurricane Katrina.

Also see our event for Hurricane Katrina from 2005.

The image below is a merge of ERS-1, 2 and Envisat satellite SAR images acquired over the city of New Orleans (Florida). This multi-temporal image shows the city before, during and after the passage of Hurricane Katrina (23-30 August 2005). The area where the flooding is recognisable in the image is highlighted in green.

This image acquired by Envisat on 05 October 2010 (Orbit 44955 Swath IS 2) shows the city of New Orleans five years after the passage of Hurricane Katrina.

This image acquired by ERS-2 on 06 September 2005 (Orbit 54274) shows the city of New Orleans some days after the passage of Hurricane Katrina. In the image some areas are still flooded.

This image acquired by ERS-1 on 23 May 1992 (Orbit 04465) shows the city of New Orleans before the passage of Hurricane Katrina.