Editor’s note: To mark the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we are presenting once again this slide show of images and recollections, first published on August 26, 2010.
Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf coast, ravaging communities from Louisiana to Florida. But hardest hit was New Orleans, where the hurricane’s legacy of destruction remains most powerful today. "We’re still coming to terms with what happened in New Orleans on August 29, 2005, and there-after," writes Rebecca Solnit in her Nation article "Reconstructing the Story of the Storm," "struggling to get the facts straight and to figure out what it said about race, disaster and even human nature. How we remember Hurricane Katrina is also how we’ll prepare for future disasters, so getting the story right matters for survival as well as for justice and history."
Solnit’s writing has attempted to recast the narrative of post-Katrina New Orleans, giving voice to those whose lives will forever be altered by neglect, brutality and lies. We excerpt and illustrate her recent Nation article in the slides that follow.
Credit: AP Images