NEW ORLEANS — Two decades since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, New Orleans plans to observe the anniversary on Friday with memorial services, musical performances, and a parade to pay tribute to those impacted.
Katrina, classified as a Category 3 hurricane during its landfall in southeast Louisiana on August 29, 2005, continues to hold the record as the most expensive U.S. storm, with damages surpassing $200 billion after inflation adjustments, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Approximately 1,400 lives were lost across five states.
The collapse of the federal levee system led to about 80% of New Orleans being submerged in floodwaters, which lingered for weeks. Thousands of residents sought refuge on rooftops or awaited rescue under dire conditions in the overcrowded Superdome stadium.
Survivors, alongside city officials, are expected to meet in the Lower Ninth Ward, a predominantly African American neighborhood where a levee break caused severe flooding, further aggravated by delayed government intervention.
The event, organized by Katrina Commemoration Inc. and Hip Hop Caucus, will showcase prayers and participation from renowned local artists such as Dawn Richard and Mia X. The organizers also aim to highlight ongoing challenges related to the sinking city’s inadequate infrastructure, gentrification, and exposure to climate change.
A large gathering is anticipated for a brass band parade known as a second line. This cherished New Orleans custom is rooted in African American jazz funerals, where grieving families participate in a procession with the deceased, accompanied by a band, followed by a ‘second line’ of dancing friends and onlookers.
A parade has been staged on every Katrina anniversary since local artists organized it in 2006 to help neighbors heal and unite the community.
“Second line allows everybody to come together,” said the Rev. Lennox Yearwood, president of Hip Hop Caucus. “We’re still here, and despite the storm, people have been strong and very powerful and have come together each and every year to continue to be there for one another.”
Other commemorations include a wreath-laying ceremony at a memorial for dozens of unidentified storm victims and a minute of silence, to be observed at 11:20 a.m.
There are also museum exhibitions, documentary screenings and city-organized discussions Saturday on the future of New Orleans’ culture, infrastructure and ongoing recovery.
City leaders are pushing for the anniversary to become a state holiday.
Katrina’s impact still felt
The city’s population, nearly half a million before Katrina, is now 384,000 after displaced New Orleanians scattered across the nation. Many ended up in Atlanta, Dallas and Houston.
In the aftermath, the levee system was rebuilt, public schools were privatized, most public housing projects were demolished and a hospital was shuttered. About 134,000 housing units were damaged by Katrina, according to The Data Center, a nonprofit research agency.
The storm had a disproportionate impact on the city’s Black residents. While New Orleans remains a majority Black city, tens of thousands of Black residents were unable to return after Katrina. A botched and racially biased federal loan program for home rebuilding, coupled with a shortage of affordable housing, have made it harder for former residents to come back.
“(Katrina) wasn’t just a New Orleans moment,” Yearwood said. “It was a national moment, and it’s a time for reflection and commitment to a better way of how we’re handling these issues moving forward.”
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