Google today is displaying a small, yet tasteful black ribbon on the bottom of it’s homepage to honor the 5th year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina striking the Louisiana coast. On August 29th 2005, Katrina officially made landfall near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana with 125 mph winds, as a strong Category 3 storm.

Katrina, which was one of the worse disasters in US history killed a total of at least 1836 people, and caused over $80 billion in property damage. The affects of Katrina were felt throughout the Gulf Coast Regions with Louisiana and Mississippi feeling the brunt of the massive storm’s force. Even as a category 3 storm the impact was catastrophic, burning the images of the damage, into the minds of millions of people in this country. By August 30th Katrina had dissipated, however, the damage remained for years.

Even though a black ribbon by Google won’t change any of that, it will at least bring to the the attention of millions of people worldwide, the tragedy this really was. With hurricane season upon us once more, and three systems out in the Atlantic, it only makes us realize that another Katrina could happen at any given time.