The devastation, the hop, the recovery

One year after Hurricane Katrina--and the subsequent levee breech--flooded 80 percent of New Orleans, progress can be seen, but there is still much work to be done. Yellow high-water marks on structures are a constant reminder of the devastating flooding that took place, and the more than 1,000 lives that were lost.

Damaged homes and cars sprinkle the city. In the Lower 9th Ward, the water is not safe to drink, and, for the most part, there is still no electricity. Still, some families are returning as city officials fight to get federal funds to rebuild the historic city.

Oliver M. Thomas Jr., city council president, describes the frustration the city feels as a result of the slow assistance from the federal government: "They say that money is about to come. But it's always been about to come. That's the thing that's so disingenuous about people. New Orleans is about to get this. New Orleans is about to get that ... Show me the money! 'Jerry Maguire' me! Some of the signs are a little better now because we are starting to control our own destiny, instead of waiting on someone else."

Mayor Ray Nagin, rejuvenated after his reelection, says that bringing New Orleans back to its former glory may take time, but it will happen. "Planning for New Orleans is a very complex process," he says. "We have 74 very distinct neighborhoods."

Many houses that weren't completely destroyed are now for sale throughout the city, many being sold "as is" for about half their pre-Katrina value. Real estate investors have flooded the area looking for bargains. Thousands of undocumented Mexicans have come to the city to do much of the cleanup work.

Willie Summers returned to his home in the 8th Ward with mixed emotions after having spent 10 months in Texas. "I'm depressed, in a way, because nothing has been done," he says. "They say they are sending all of this money to New Orleans. Where is it? We don't see it. You have all these abandoned cars, all this trash. Where is the money going?"

In the post-Katrina environment, the New Orleans Police Department, now headed by Superintendent Warren J. Riley, has been completely transformed to focus on crimes against people in inhabited areas and property crimes in uninhibited areas. To this extent, the city requested and has received law enforcement backup from the Louisiana National Guard and State Troopers.

With the 2006 hurricane season in full swing, city officials have conducted several mock evacuation drills in hopes of doing a better job if another hurricane hits the region. The levees are taller and stronger, but probably still no match for a direct hit from a category 5 storm.

Katrina not only affected the adults, but children as well. Schools in the heavily damaged areas remain closed. Students endure long bus rides to their newly assigned schools. The Children's Defense Fund has stepped in, releasing a report calling for quality public education, health care and mental health services for the young victims of the storm.

That may be a difficult task considering that nearly 75 percent of the city's doctors have yet to return to the city, and more than half of the city's hospitals remain closed. Charity Hospital has set up a makeshift emergency room in an abandoned department store downtown. Patients not in critical need of treatment are being sent to other parts of the state for medical attention.

At the Dillard University graduation ceremony (held in July rather than May because of Katrina), President Marvalene Hughes told the class of 2006: "So much changed after Hurricane Katrina. One thing that has become clear with time is that if your life is firmly in God's garden, God is the constant force in your life ... In times of peace and in times of struggle, God does not falter, does not slumber and does not fail."

Even though only about 15 percent of New Orleans churches are back in service, faith has played an important part in the recovery of the city. The Rev. Emanuel Smith Jr., who lives in a FEMA trailer behind his church after his home was destroyed, says the needs of his congregation at Israelite Missionary Baptist Church are different since Katrina. "There is a loss of direction. 'Where do I go? What do I do?' They are frustrated, aggravated. They are searching for answers, and it is my job to get them to understand that ... if they live in the word of God, they will see that God is a restorer of everything that He allowed to be taken from them. If I can get them to understand that what was done to them wasn't to destroy them, but to make them stronger, then I've done my job."

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced that it would rebuild much of the city's public housing, replacing badly damaged units with mixed-income neighborhoods.

The Superdome, which served as emergency shelter during the storm, was scheduled to be ready for the start of the New Orleans Saints football season. The city's convention center is open, as is the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. The trolley cars are back on track, and Magazine Street is alive with quaint restaurants and nightlife. The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival has returned, and Mardi Gras expects to be back in full form next year. The city's recreation department has reopened several city swimming pools and four of the 13 community centers.