Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath in New Orleans
Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath in New Orleans
In August 2005 New Orleans and the surrounding area was hit by hurricane Katrina. Much worse than the hurricane was the failure of the federally designed levee system; in what has been called "the worst civil engineering disaster in U.S. history" when some 80% of the city flooded.
New Orleans was not destroyed, but the flood was a severe blow, perhaps the worst disaster to hit a U.S. city since the great San Francisco earthquake 99 years previous. Six years later, many visitors might notice little or no sign that anything bad happened. For locals, however, rebuilding remains a continuing struggle. The French Quarter and other oldest parts of town most popular with visitors were built on comparative high ground, and were less damaged and have been more quickly restored. However, not everything is back to normal in the city; scenes of devastation can be still seen in many neighborhoods. More than two-thirds of the city's pre-Katrina population is back living in the city; most of them have a fierce love of their city and have faced many hardships in their continuing efforts to rebuild it bit by bit.
The city's public services - especially police - have struggled to return to their full strength, and are dealing with a city where decades of neighborhood stability have been disrupted. The city overall has experienced an increase in crime as a result. (See "Stay safe" below.)
While some visitors decide to confine their trip to the more fully intact parts of the city or just visit the worse hit areas as part of a half-day "disaster tour", for others the historic events of Katrina and its aftermath are the focus of their visit.
Volunteer projects such as “New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity” which builds new houses has attracted volunteers doing good work. Organizations such as Levees.org are vigilant in encouraging further investigation into the flooding and hurricane protection issues surrounding New Orleans, and visitors to the city are encouraged to tour ravaged areas and help keep alive the attention needed to restore New Orleans to its original grandeur.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about New Orleans
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in New Orleans - updated May 2024
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New Orleans Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
