Katrina made landfall at Buras, Louisiana.
That wasn’t the eye.
“...However, the worst property damage occurred in coastal areas, such as all Mississippi beachfront towns, which were flooded over 90% in hours, as boats and casino barges rammed buildings, pushing cars and houses inland, with waters reaching 6–12 miles (10–19 km) from the beach.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
When Katrina made landfall, she started a drift to the east, right along the coast. NOLA was always west of the eye. What happened in NOLA, when the levees gave out, happened on a much grander scale across the whole Mississippi coast and we got the brunt of the winds.