Katrina at 20 Archives - Word In Black

An aerial view of rebuilt homes amid vacant lots where homes once stood in the Lower Ninth Ward on August 26, 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 historic predominantly Black community of the Lower Ninth Ward held thousands of families and had a high rate of multi-generational homeownership. Multiple levee breaches inundated the entire Lower Ninth Ward during the storm, killing many and damaging or destroying thousands of homes. The Lower Ninth Ward currently holds about one-third of its pre-Katrina population. 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.

A Smaller, Whiter, Less Affordable New Orleans

by Joseph Williams August 29, 2025August 29, 2025

Two decades after Katrina, resilience is the headline about the Big Easy, but inequality is still the reality.

Katrina at 20: Race, Wealth, and Recovery

by Anissa Durham August 29, 2025August 29, 2025

New Orleans, Louisiana, A Mark Twain quote endorsing New Orleans food is posted in the New Orleans convention center.

New Orleans’ Food Heritage: Resilience After Katrina

by Jennifer Porter Gore August 29, 2025August 29, 2025

Ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, Dillard University remained closed for weeks, disrupting students' education. Fortunately for some, a former Dillard professor — who had just taken a job teaching at Coppin State University in Baltimore — saw an opportunity to help. He convinced his new school to enroll former Dillard students, at a reduced tuition, so their eduation would not be interrupted.

WATCH: Katrina Closed Their HBCU. So This Professor Opened Doors

by Rev. Dorothy S. Boulware and Shernay Williams August 29, 2025September 24, 2025

In 2016, nonprofit Sustaining Our Urban Landscape planted 200 trees in New Orleans. "This year we're going to plant at least 2,000 trees,” says founder and executive director Susannah Burley.

Two Decades After Katrina, New Orleans Is Still Missing its Trees

by Willy Blackmore August 27, 2025August 29, 2025