One year after Katrina: the progress, the hope, the anger, the recovery: the costliest and one of the deadliest storms in the history of the United States, Hurricane Katrina spread devastation and despair throughout the Gulf Coast

Jet, August 28, 2006 by Kevin Chappell

One year after Hurricane Katrina, Gulf Coast residents continue the arduous task of putting their lives back together, many times in spite of little or no federal financial help they were promised after the storm.

While in New Orleans, 80 percent of which was flooded, the challenges remain daunting, as a 100-day plan by the mayor offers hope, but has been criticized for its slow approach to solving the city's massive problems.

More than 1,000 lives were lost, and millions more shattered, on August 29, 2005, when the Category 3 storm gained strength in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and slammed into Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Now, on the first anniversary of the biggest disaster in U.S. history, hope has taken hold in some areas, anger in others, and still in others the debate rages on as to how "natural" the disaster was. In fact, many in New Orleans believe that the agony that they have experienced during the last 12 months was not of "natural" causes at all, but man-made, a result of a faulty and outdated levee system, if not something more sinister.

Whoever is to blame--and there is surely plenty of blame to go around--none of it is helping to bring a sense of normalcy to the area fast enough for residents like Sheila Parker and others, who have bounced around from city to city, state to state, from shelter to hotel to apartment to trailer.

Parker has lived in her home in the city's 9th Ward for 22 years. When the storm came, she evacuated to Arkansas and then to Tennessee before she returned to the city in August. She says that only because she had the foresight to purchase flood insurance, which many of her neighbors didn't, was she able to return and rebuild. "We survived the hurricane," says the grandmother of two. "But the neighborhood will never be the same."

While the finger-pointing continues, particularly in New Orleans, other areas along the Gulf Coast, which received the brunt of the storm, seem to be moving at a faster recovery pace.

In Mississippi, more than 64,000 homes in three counties were destroyed, with another 77,000 damaged. But virtually all of the 47 million cubic yards of debris have been removed, most of the schools have been reopened and repair has begun on a majority of the damaged houses.

Many of the state's heavily damage towns have already moved toward implementing plans laid out by the newly created Mississippi Renewal Forum. In Moss Point, MS, for example, plans have been made to construct a new city hall, a new police station, fire station, and recreation center, as well as a new public square on Main Street lined by office and residential buildings with shop fronts.

Newly elected Mayor Xavier Bishop now has a standard reply to those who ask what it felt like to have a hurricane sweep through his town when he was in office all of two months. "I told people I was going to bring about change," said Bishop, who sees this as an opportunity "to establish a vision where there wasn't one."

Meanwhile, in New Orleans, much of the tons of debris have been removed, and much of the power, sewer and running water have been restored. But critics of the city's efforts say that officials continue to lack a comprehensive plan to bring the city back. Some residents blame those in power, many of whom, they say, are spending too much time out of the city, traveling the world, giving lectures, keynote speeches and serving as consultants in the area of disaster preparedness.

At a recent press conference, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin addressed the concerns. "Everybody says 'Why is it taking so long?' This rebuilding of New Orleans, I would rather get it right than to do it too fast ...," says Nagin, who was re-elected earlier this year. "There's no manual. There's no precedent for this. We really don't know if we're going too fast or too slow."

The city's business community, however, is moving at a much faster pace, with more than 70 percent of the 80,000 or so regional businesses affected by Hurricane Katrina back open.

Groups such as the American Psychology Association, the American Library Association, and the Full Gospel Baptist Church have all held conventions in the city, helping to boost a local economy dependent on visitors. The Superdome will open September 25 with a Monday night game between the hometown Saints and the Atlanta Falcons.

The Louis Armstrong International Airport, which was used as a staging area for much of the rescue efforts, is at 75 percent pre-Katrina levels. Amtrak is back at full-service, as is the city's famed street car. The city's cruise ship industry will return in October.

Most of the city's 140 hotels have reopened, as have most of the big-name restaurants. Still, some of the mom-and-pop businesses remain closed, as the owners either had no flood insurance or continue to haggle with insurance companies.

Public safety has also been revamped. After several murder sprees in July, New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren J. Riley asked for, and received, assistance from the Louisiana State Police and the state's National Guard.