Hurricane Katrina: Ten Years Later

How New Oleans is recovering

Hurricane Katrina left nearly 2,000 people dead and thousands more were homeless and wounded.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused America's most expensive natural disaster, with a repair bill of $150 billion. Entire roads were washed away, houses were submerged or destroyed, and swampy areas formed, polluted with trash and debris from Katrina.

Today, aerial views show neighborhoods with lush green lawns, clean and newly-painted homes, and even a refurbished Super dome.

Despite the amazing clean-up, many residents have permanently moved from their lives in New Orleans to different parts of the country. Several organizations have been working side-by-side with those who choose to remain, rebuilding homes, feeding the hungry and cleaning the city.

Laura Paul, Executive Director of the charity group The Lower Nine, says, "I would like to see as many of the original residents as possible get back in their home."

Robert Penfold with Channel 9 News was present at the the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans when 10 million survivors gathered, battered and afraid, in the hopes of being rescued from the drowning city.

"It's been a long-haul back for New Orleans and it's a recovery story that's far from finished," Penfold reports. He returns to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to state, "These days the Convention Center is the good-news story here New Orleans ... the word is getting out that New Orleans is back in business."

New Orleans Councillor James Gray states, "There were people who predicted ... it would take us until 2020 to get back to 200,000 people. Well we are close to 400 thousand people right now and we're the fastest growing city in America."

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