An estimated 80 percent of New Orleans was underwater in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. If a map of metro New Orleans (New Orleans proper is 181 square miles) were superimposed over a map of metro Boston (Boston proper is a mere 42 square miles) it would stretch to Waltham in the west, Quincy in the south, and Malden in the north. Make the comparison yourself: Click on the button in the bar below and slide it back and forth.

(Source: Google maps)