20 Years After Hurricane Katrina, An Uneven Recovery And New Beginnings

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - AUGUST 03: People sit and watch Satchmo Summerfest, honoring New Orleans jazz legend Louis Armstrong, from across the street in the French Quarter on August 3, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region are preparing to mark the 20-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which occurred on August 29, 2005. The failure of levees during the catastrophic storm in New Orleans flooded about 80 percent of the city, including historic communities such as the Lower Ninth Ward. Katrina resulted in nearly 1,400 deaths, according to revised statistics from the National Hurricane Center, and remains the costliest storm in U.S. history at around $200 billion in today’s dollars. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)