Commemorative events and a brass band procession mark the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastation in New Orleans.
Hurricane Katrina, a catastrophic storm that struck the U.S. Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, left an indelible mark on the city of New Orleans. Sixteen years later, the city's population, which was nearly half a million before the disaster, now stands at 384,000.
The storm's flooding inundated about 80% of New Orleans, with the Lower Ninth Ward, a predominantly Black community, being particularly ravaged when parts of the protective levee system failed. This failure, a result of inadequate maintenance and engineering flaws, caused widespread flooding and loss of life.
Katrina's aftermath saw the exodus of many residents, disproportionately affecting Black residents of New Orleans. Thousands of people sought refuge on rooftops or in the Superdome during the storm, and numerous lives were lost, with nearly 1,400 deaths recorded across five states.
The delayed government response to Hurricane Katrina exacerbated suffering in New Orleans, as stated by community leaders. The organisation that launched a large-scale housing program in the city after the storm was the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the program particularly affected low-income and working-class communities.
However, critics argue that the federal rebuilding program favoured the city's predominantly white and wealthy neighbourhoods, with most public housing projects being demolished after the storm. A public hospital known for serving the city's poor was also shuttered after the storm.
In the years following Katrina, New Orleans underwent significant changes. Public schools were privatized, and the levee system was rebuilt. A memorial was held in a New Orleans cemetery for Katrina's victims, and a community Katrina memorial, which had fallen into disrepair, was restored before the anniversary events.
Local officials and residents in Mississippi gathered to mark the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, with Haley Barbour, former Mississippi governor, recalling the "utter obliteration" of the coast from a helicopter after the storm. Orrin Duncan, who worked for the coroner when Katrina hit, attends the memorial annually.
Brook, a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative, a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues, continues to cover the ongoing impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region. The city and its residents continue to rebuild and remember the devastating storm that changed their lives forever.
