20 years later: How Katrina changed the game in US disaster response

So you haven't heard about that water coming over that nevin from the lake

No, check it out. Because the water started rising so high in my two-story apartment, I had to get out, man

August 29, 2005. The day that changed the city of New Orleans forever

We will do what it takes. We will stay as long as it takes

to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives. 20 years later, and the Lower Ninth Ward, known as Backatown, is still in recovery mode

after Hurricane Katrina ripped through Louisiana and the levees broke on the Industrial C

leaving 80% of New Orleans underwater. Homes, streets, and lives washed away in minutes

What happened here was avoidable. It was human error. It was government error

It was the Army Corps of Engineers failing to create flood protection systems and maintain

flood protection systems appropriately. And here we are. Before Katrina, more than 14,000 people called the Lower Ninth Ward home

As of 2023 just over 5 remain according to the data center The same problem two decades ago It not about low income It not about rich people poor people It about people

Is what Executive Director Laura Paul with the non-profit Lower9.org says residents still face today

Recovery can be painfully slow and that has certainly been our experience here

So we have been trying very hard to get folks back into their homes and trying to get as many what we call legacy residents of the Lower Ninth Ward back into the neighborhood

Twenty years ago, the Lower Ninth Ward's population was nearly 100 percent black, with more than 40 percent living below the poverty line

Back a town sits about eight feet below sea level, making it one of the most flood prone parts of New Orleans

Geographically, it covers nearly half the neighborhood, while areas where wealthier, predominantly white residents live are higher and safer

What we say in-house is disasters don't discriminate, but recoveries do. And that is 100% the truth

FEMA was tasked with leading disaster response after Katrina, providing emergency aid, temporary housing, and financial support for rebuilding

but delays disorganization and poor coordination left to many residents especially in low income predominantly black neighborhoods like the Lower Ninth Ward without timely help After the devastation

Louisiana launched the Road Home Program to help residents rebuild. The program offered homeowners

buyouts or funds to rebuild, but many found it difficult to access. Years later, courts ruled

it discriminated against Black homeowners, making it even harder for families in the Lower Ninth to

return. Paul estimates only 25 percent of the ward is rebuilt. There are huge swaths of empty lots

that do not have residential structures on them that had residential structures on them prior to

Katrina and the great majority of those were owned by low wealth black homeowners which is an

incredibly important distinction. We had one of the highest rates of black homeownership in the

nation prior to Katrina. That's where the non-profit Lower Nine steps in filling the gaps left by

federal programs. With donations and volunteers, they've rebuilt nearly 100 homes and fixed more

than 400 others, giving legacy residents a chance to come home. We've gotten quite a lot of work done

and we're not planning on going anywhere, but we've done it on a shoestring budget for years

and years. It's not just homes, it's businesses too. A handful of shops dot the lower ninth ward

a gas station a dollar store but the neighborhood vibrant heart once filled with movie theaters hair salons has yet to come back Paul says quality of life is also still playing catch up

A few years ago, the life expectancy in this zip code was 24 years less than Uptip, which is an affluent and, you know, much wider section of the city

To mark the 20th anniversary, Lower9.org launched a campaign aiming to raise $1,000 from leaders in every state by September 30th

They're also calling on volunteers to help rebuild homes and support legacy residents in the Lower 9th Ward

It's how the city got back on its feet. It's church groups, it's school kids, it's individuals and groups giving of their time and their labor and their love and their energy

and caring for folks here, and we still need people. It's not just about those homes

It's also about restoring a community, block by block, family by family

We are still very much engaged with that. I honestly don't see us running out of work anytime soon

For more in-depth reporting on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, head to san.com or the Straight Arrow News mobile app and search Katrina

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey