As the Trump administration hobbles FEMA, experts warn the agency is backsliding towards the same failures seen after New Orleans’ levees failed.
Posted inKatrina20
Hoping to distract displaced Katrina children with cameras, she ended up launching a nonprofit
On Friday evening, The Contemporary Arts Center will kick off an exhibit for Danette Vincent’s Katrina Camera Kids, who picked up cameras for the first time after the storm and ended up capturing important moments in their lives.
Posted inKatrina20
New Orleans was not disposable after Katrina; its children are not disposable now
“We knew that our city was worth investment and protection,” writes Cierra Chenier. “The same must be true for our children.”
Posted inKatrina20
The long arc of John McDonogh Senior High School
The ups and downs within the John McDonogh High School building illustrate the persistent inequities of New Orleans public schools
Posted inKatrina20
Threatening the bridge that defines the Lower 9
For more than a century, the St. Claude Avenue lift bridge over the Industrial Canal has withstood life-altering floods and record-breaking hurricanes. Last November, it became a national historic landmark. But it faces an uncertain future because of expansion plans proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a 14-year construction process that will destroy […]
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 281 part II: ‘Completely inadequate’
Longtime environmental reporter Mark Schleifstein on the federal flood after the U.S. Army Corps’ levees failed and flooded 80 percent of the city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Delaney Nolan on ongoing corrosion that could undermine the system again.
Posted inKatrina20
Rust and corrosion threaten levee steel pumps and supports
A permanent fix is still on the way for corrosion found in the massive lakefront pumps – and there’s likely more corrosion on the underground steel supporting certain floodwalls, because the Army Corps only painted a fraction of it with protective coatings
Posted inKatrina20
20 years after Katrina, New Orleans schools are still ‘a work in progress’
New Orleans schools show improvement from pre-Katrina days, but families have had to weather the growing pains of the charter movement, including too many school closures, “no-excuses” discipline, and an inordinate focus on academics and not on the extracurriculars that help create well-rounded students.
Posted inKatrina20
No & yes, post-Katrina
No, the East’s rebuilding wasn’t limited to tall apartments on top of three or four levels of parking garages, despite what was proposed. And, yes, homes in neighborhoods built on former marshland were rebuilt, despite the Green Dot Plan. A reminder of what did and did not happen after Hurricane Katrina by journalist Jed Horne.
Posted inKatrina20
We Ain’t Dead Yet
“We knew it was the breath of this city | And it was the confirmation that we were looking for,” writes Chuck Perkins. We chose this poem to kick off The Lens’ week of Katrina20 stories, essays, photography, and poetry.