MISSISSIPPI, USA — In the early hours of August 29, 2005, Biloxi, Mississippi, woke up to a nightmare. Hurricane Katrina wasn’t just a storm. It was a wall of water.

“We had 28 feet of water in and around here. Twenty-eight feet of water is a lot of water,” said Biloxi Mayor Andrew Gilich.

Katrina erased what generations had built. The coast’s heartbeat, its homes, businesses, and casinos, much of it wiped away in hours.

“The event was so long. From six in the morning until four in the afternoon. A massive amount of water and the sustained winds that took so long,” said Mayor Gilich.

This wasn’t just wind and rain. This was the Gulf rising up. Entire neighborhoods vanished. And when the water finally receded, it Biloxi was almost unrecognizable.

“It doesn’t reveal itself until you get

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