Katrina 10 years on: New Orleans still in recovery

“I still see it today. That will never leave. I found bodies all over my backyard.”

When the levees of New Orleans broke after Hurricane Katrina’s devastating force ten years ago, the area known as Lower Ninth Ward was the hardest hit. Sitting next to the Mississippi River and the main outfall canal, the world watched as the neighbourhood went largely under water due to overwhelming and powerful floods.

Michael Knight drives around in his old car showing us his neighbourhood. He was one of the residents of Lower Ninth Ward that didn’t immediately evacuate when the levees broke. Instead, he tried saving people by rescuing them from their flooded houses.

Above: Michael Knight

“I saved three from that home,” he says, pointing at a bright blue house. “But I lost three.”

Michael has lived most of his life in the ward and remembers what it used to look like. “On that corner, they used to sell hamburgers and soul food,” he says. “Used to be the best corner.”

‘Our heart sank’

Reverend Charles Duplessis is a friend of Michael’s. Mount Nebo Baptist Church, which stood right in front of Michael’s house, temporarily provided shelter for people when Katrina hit but was reduced to rubble like most buildings when the floods came.

“When we saw the church for the first time after Katrina, our hearts sank,” recalls the Reverend.

Above: Reverend Charles Duplessis

While the new church currently only has a basic structure, something the Reverend calls “the shell of hope”, he is now in the process of raising funds with the help of premier foundation to complete building the house of worship. He’s also not buying into the “everything is fine” rhetoric.

“According to some people, everything is okay because the Saints are back, the Superbowl is back and the French Quarter is alive and bustling,” he says referring to the immensely popular tourist trap. “But if you go beyond those areas you will still see the lingering of the storm.”

Above: A general view of the Lower Ninth Ward where many homes were destroyed during Hurricane Katrina

The Lower Ninth Ward very visibly carries the scars left behind by Katrina. Once, each block in the ward proudly hosted rows of houses. Katrina obliterated many of the residences, forcing families to abandon the homes they could no longer afford to repair. In fact, prior to the hurricane, the Lower Ninth Ward had some of highest numbers in homeowners, specifically African-American. Today, there are empty plots and skeletons of what used to be homes.

“Before Katrina, I had some 40 neighbours,” says Burnell Cotlon, the owner of the only grocery store in the ward. “Today I have three.”

Slow progress

Burnell invested his entire life savings – some $80,000 – to open up a grocery store for his community after Katrina forced out business. It sells a variety of products; from fresh produce to canned tomatoes. But, perhaps less obviously, it works as a focal point for members of the ward.

“When I rebuilt my home, I saw my community was still suffering,” he says as his mother looks on from behind the store’s counter. “We didn’t have a barber shop, no stores, no infrastructure. The city wasn’t doing anything to help this town.”

Burnell’s sentiments are echoed by many of the residents, not just in the Lower Ninth Ward, but many other parts of New Orleans who feel there is still a long road ahead to full recovery.

“We used to have two fire stations and we now have one,” says Reverend Charles. “We used to have six schools and now we have two. We don’t even have a fast food restaurant down here.”

Our hearts are still heavy with the storm Louis Murry, retired veteran

There has, however, been some progress. Construction is ongoing to build more homes in the Lower Ninth Ward in hopes to motivate those who evacuated to neighbouring states to finally return home. New schools are being built. Brad Pitt’s Make It Right foundation has also put up brand new houses in the area, though not without scrutiny.

Above: Louis Murry outside his home

Louis Murry, a retired veteran living some 20 minutes away from where the levees broke, tried to rebuild his home after it was ruined by the floods but soon ran out of money. The St Bernard Project, which works to rehouse families directly affected by Hurricane Katrina, have recently secured funding to finally rebuild Louis’ house.

“Mentally, we’re still hurting,” says Louis. “Our hearts are still heavy with the storm.”

Racial inequality in recovery

Erika McConduit-Diggs is the president of the Urban League of Greater New Orleans. She was nine months pregnant when she evacuated and remembers being at loss for words when returning to her almost unrecognisable home city.

Though she applauds the progress made to resurrect New Orleans, she’s also helped raise concerns for how the recovery money has been distributed among neighbourhoods. A preliminary report had actually suggested turning the entire Lower Ninth Ward into a park or public green space. Something the residents fiercely fought against.

“The recovery has been a mixed bag,” says Erika. “When you think about the New Orleans Back plan that was initially advanced, it had green dots that represented neighborhoods that weren’t going to be rebuilt or should not be rebuilt. And those were places where people lived were predominantly occupied by African-Americans and so the recovery by and large has not benefitted African-Americans even though they are the majority population still pre and post Katrina in the city.”

But in the midst of it all, New Orleans is trying to find its groove again. Soulful music is still played in the city, be it on the streets or on front porches in neighbourhoods. Close to the infamous Frenchmen Street stands Kevin; a musician playing his bright purple and gold clarinet. He informs us the slow jam he’s belting out is called Going Through the Fire.

“It’s about going through something hard but coming out of it alive and stronger,” he says before proudly adding: “Like New Orleans surviving Hurricane Katrina.”

Mashaal Mir is an Assistant Producer in the Channel 4 News Washington bureau.