Hurricane Katrina, considered one of the three most intense hurricanes to hit the United States, nearly devastated the City of Long Beach on Sunday, August 29, 2005, when the Category 3 storm brought a storm surge exceeding 28 feet. Six lives were lost, 60 businesses in the commercial district were destroyed or closed in the aftermath, 715 single-family homes were demolished, entire neighborhoods south of the CSX Railroad tracks were completely leveled, the Long Beach harbor sustained major damage, and 12 municipal buildings were destroyed or heavily damaged, while Harper McCaughan Elementary School on Jeff Davis Avenue was damaged beyond repair. A total of 4,745 properties suffered damage exceeding $364.9 million. After wind, rain, and storm surge battered Long Beach, volunteers from churches, civic clubs, college groups, charitable organizations, and individual Americans almost immediately formed clean-up, chain-saw, and home repair teams to assist residents, opened distribution centers for water and hot meals and first-aid emergency medical centers across the city, and were joined by federal and state personnel who provided planning consultants and authorized grants to help rebuild the central business district, construct new municipal buildings, and replace miles of damaged underground sewerage and water lines.