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.
Category: Katrina20
Looking back at the tragedy we went through, with an eye to what it means now, 20 years later.
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.
Posted inOpinion
No Papers! No Fear!
Artist and poet José Torres-Tama created his new Katrina @ 20 exhibition: No Papers! No Fear!, which opens on Friday, to commemorate the immigrants who contributed to an epic New Orleans rebirth — despite the city’s extreme cruelties.
Posted inHurricane Season
Weather watchdog silenced
This administration is placing vulnerable communities at greater risk when severe weather strikes, says the writer, who helped to craft key forecasting legislation that’s now been undone. She points to the harms done through lapsed weather-data contracts, draconian proposed cuts to the Weather Service, and undermined public confidence in severe weather alerts.
Posted inSchools
State, school district ask judge to end federal scrutiny of New Orleans special education
State and district school officials argue that they’ve complied with a 2015 federal civil-rights judgment. But lawyers representing students who still aren’t getting adequate special ed services say that school officials may be complying with the letter of the law, but not the spirit of it.
Posted inLens Carnival Edition
A satire of tragedy: the first Mardi Gras after Katrina
At that point in 2006, hardly anything seemed worthy of celebrating. Except everyone wanted and needed the kind of emotional release that comes with Carnival. We needed one day that brought New Orleans back to normal – or the abnormal, some would say.
Posted inEmbracing our narratives
Super Bowl planners: ‘Anticipate any features of the [Lower 9] neighborhood which could be used by media to substantiate Katrina narrative’
This is the introduction to a five-story project, The Lens’ Embracing Katrina Narratives project. Last summer, in July, a group of influential New Orleanians gathered, with hopes of preparing the city for a national spotlight ahead of Super Bowl LIX. Michael Hecht, the CEO Of Greater New Orleans Inc., who was tapped by Governor Jeff Landry […]