Returns to New Orleans

How years of misguided policies and bureaucratic bungling left New Orleans defenseless against Katrina — and we are making the same mistakes again

• The Threatening Storm
• Forum: In Their Own Words
• Graphic: State of the City
• Photos: The Displaced
• Photos: Broken City
• Video: Damage Survey
• Talkback: What Can We Do?

Sports played a special role in the early stages of the New Orleans recovery, but beyond the Superdome, in battered, depopulated areas such as the Lower Ninth Ward, there is a great need to get the city's at-risk youth back in play

• Alexander Wolff Viewpoint: Two Years After Katrina
• A City in Recovery
• UNO coach returns home
• Sports key to recovery in Lower Ninth Ward
• Dillard U. Gets Campus, Spirit Back
• Photo gallery: Long Road to Recovery

Go inside the re-opening of Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School, reborn in the Lower Ninth Ward through the fierce tenacity of its principal, Doris Hicks — and meet the Lewis family, whose four children insisted on staying at the school they love.

• Kendell Goes Back To School

In 2005, ESSENCE met three New Orleans families whose lives changed dramatically the day the levees broke. Jeannine Amber follows up with them

• Where Are They Now?
• 10 Things New Orleanians Are Talking About
• ESSENCE Remembers Hurricane Katrina

EW and R.E.M. collaborate on a video for the band's song "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1," showcasing Michael Stipe's personal pics of the city post-Katrina, with additional images supplied by The New Orleans Musicians' Relief Fund and Mercy Corps

• R.E.M. Exclusive
• New Orleans: Back From the Brink
• Video: The music of New Orleans
• Video: Charities working to lift New Orleans

In Katrina's aftermath, thousands of Latinos arrived to help rebuild a devastated city. Two years later their newborn babies, and many more to come, are profoundly transforming New Orleans

• A Hispanic Renaissance in New Orleans
• Spanish version

The Chauvins have been in the shrimp business for four generations — and they're trying for five. Plus: FSB catches up with four other small business owners who have struggled to keep their companies afloat.

• Saving the family business

Billions have been spent to rebuild New Orleans. But not enough is reaching the local economy. Here's why.
Plus: New Orleans' insurance crisis and the risk to the U.S. oil and gas supply.

• Where's the Relief Money?
• Video: The Aftermath of Katrina
• Two years of New Orleans photos
• The next energy crisis
• Bringing insurers back to New Orleans

The Pellissiers had deep roots in New Orleans, including a prosperous third-generation family business. But all that couldn't keep them in this still struggling city.
Plus: Darryl and Jennifer Hazelwood are finally about to move in to the Lakeview home they bought a year ago.

• You can't go home again
• Sticking with New Orleans
• Coping with insurance cutbacks in high-risk areas

Returning to the Gulf Coast, This Old House tells the story—in words, photos, and video—of how ordinary people are rebuilding, oftentimes without insurance. Plus, TOH offers expert advice for protecting your home and property from the worst of storms.

• New Orleans Video Portraits
• A Father and His Firefighter Sons Rebuild the Family Home
• Breaking: New Aid for Historic Preservation
• Recycling Ruins to Rescue 18th-Century Houses
• Post-disaster Construction with Curb Appeal
• How To Protect Your Home From Storm Damage