Photos: A look back at Hurricane Katrina's 'zombie fridges'

Wednesday, October 21, 2015, 4:13 PM - On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, inundating New Orleans with blinding sheets of rain and winds up to 225 kilometres per hour.

It's estimated that 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded after the levee system failed, killing at least 1,800 people.

The storm produced catastrophic damage - topping $100 billion - making it the costliest U. S. hurricane on record. It formed due to the combined result of a tropical wave, an upper-level trough, and the mid-level remnants of Tropical Depression Ten.

Katrina brought up to 355 mm of rain to southern Florida, and 200-300 mm of rain as it moved inland from the northern Gulf coast. 

A mind-boggling 33 tornadoes were reported during the storm. 

Some residents were forced to leave their homes for months and while they were away, something peculiar happened.

Most of the evacuees didn't realize their homes would be without power for several weeks and did not empty their fridges prior to leaving.

Thousands of people returned home to find their refrigerators filled with decomposing food. In some cases, the matter was toxic enough to melt plastic and corrode metal.

Disgusted residents took photos of their fridges for insurance purposes. They then taped them up and carried them outside.

The days and weeks following Hurricane Katrina were a logistical nightmare for New Orleans city planners. Garbage pickup was slow to start up again, and abandoned refrigerators lined the streets for weeks -- prompting some frustrated residents to start decorating the appliances. 

The graffiti started out simple but became more and more elaborate as time went on. 

In December 2005, four months after the storm made landfall, 'Katrina refrigerators' remained on the side of the road, inspiring residents to adorn them with Christmas decorations.

The toxic mess the food created meant the fridges had to be collected by crews wearing HAZMAT suits, adding to the clean-up delays.

The fridges were largely disposed of by early 2006, but they weren't soon forgotten.

There were numerous references to the zombie appliances at New Orleans Mardi Gras 2006. Several floats depicted the refrigerators, while visitors dressed up as them.

All photos courtesy of Wikipedia