Stacey Gilbert and her son Ryan Gilbert are both teachers in New Orleans. Emily Kask for NPR hide caption
Hurricane Katrina, 20 years later
Special Series
Hurricane Katrina, 20 years later
NhuNgoc Pham with her family on the day she received her doctorate in public health from Tulane University. After living through Katrina as a teen, she now researches post-traumatic growth. Pham family hide caption
Surprising lessons from studies about post-Katrina trauma
Left to right: Kenneth Avery, Brittany Penn, Adolph Bynum Sr., Marguerite Doyle Johnston and New Orleans Councilman Eugene Green Jr. all hail from the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, La. Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina flooded their neighborhood, they share their stories. Camille Farrah Lenain for NPR hide caption
The long road home 20 years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana
An aerial view of rebuilt elevated homes earlier this month along Waveland Beach in Mississippi, an area hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago. The catastrophic storm sent an approximately 30-foot-high storm surge into Waveland and destroyed or damaged nearly every home in the town. Nearly 1,400 people died across the Gulf Coast, and it remains the costliest storm in U.S. history at around $200 billion in today's dollars. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption
Young performers rehearse a dance sequence for 504 NOLA, a youth-led play about Hurricane Katrina, at the Anthony Bean Community Theater in Uptown New Orleans on Aug. 25, 2025. The production, created by director Anthony Bean, premiered Aug. 30 at the Orpheum Theater. Camille Farrah Lenain for NPR hide caption
New Orleans remembers Katrina through theater and Hip hop
Water surrounds homes in the devastated 9th Ward in this aerial view of damage from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans on Aug. 30, 2005. Smiley N. Pool/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images hide caption
Dre'Shean Napoleon, right, sits with his mother, Nikkisha Napoleon and niece, Symphony Bradford at the home where Nikkisha Napoleon grew up in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans on July 5, 2025. Tyrone Turner/for NPR hide caption
Geraldlynn Stewart poses for a portrait outside her home in New Orleans East. Emily Kask/for NPR hide caption
A glimpse into the gains and losses of the 'college for all' movement in New Orleans
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) became a symbol of the government's failure to prevent damage and save lives after Hurricane Katrina. Here, a plea spray-painted on plywood sits in front of an apartment complex on Sept. 4, 2005, in Biloxi, Miss., which was hit hard by the storm. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption
Hurricane Katrina forced changes at FEMA. Trump is rolling them back
Trombone Shorty in studio in New Orleans on Aug. 26. Lilly Quiroz/NPR hide caption
Is his new album, Trombone Shorty pays tribute to his hometown of New Orleans
Kanye West, George W. Bush, and the lasting impact of Hurricane Katrina. Getty Images/New York Daily News hide caption
"George Bush doesn't care about Black people" 20 years later
Tens of thousands of pets — if not hundreds of thousands — were left in places like New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina because disaster response agencies told people to leave pets behind. Chris Hondros/Getty Images hide caption
Kevin Potter poses for a portrait in his home in Chalmette, St. Bernard Parish, on Aug. 20. He returned home after Hurricane Katrina. The neighborhood was flooded due to the nearby Mississippi River–Gulf Outlet Canal shipping channel, which did not have a storm surge barrier at the time. Camille Lenain for NPR hide caption
20 years after Katrina, St. Bernard Parish's population hasn’t recovered
Burnell Cotlon is the owner of Burnell's Lower 9th Ward Market, which one of the very few businesses still surviving in the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans. Many residents did not return to the area after Hurricane Katrina hit the area in 2005. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption
20 years after Hurricane Katrina, the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans still lags behind
Cathy Hamel, 69, lost everything she had in Hurricane Katrina. She was delighted to get back her freshman high school ID card that she lost 20 years ago in the storm. Gulf Island National Seashore Park Ranger Becky Copeland (left) found the ID card on Horn Island, off the coast of Mississippi. Elizabeth Shadle hide caption
Last fall, for the first time since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans' school district opened a new school of its own, The Leah Chase School. Emily Kask for NPR/ hide caption
20 years after Katrina, New Orleans schools are still 'a work in progress'
Then-U.S. President George W. Bush talks with then-U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré on the flight deck of the USS Iwo Jima on Sept. 20, 2005, in New Orleans, La. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
A retired general recalls Hurricane Katrina’s chaos and lessons still unlearned
POUR ILLUSTRER LE PAPIER: "Série d'ouragans destructeurs et crainte d'une répétition en 2006" - Vue datée du 30 août 2005 de la Nouvelle-Orléans couverte par les eaux après le passage du cyclone Katrina. Les ouragans ont battu cette année tous les records et fait plonger La Nouvelle-Orléans dans le cauchemar, mais les météorologues redoutent pour 2006 des cyclones tout aussi destructeurs. AFP PHOTO/POOL/VINCENT LAFORET (Photo credit should read VINCENT LAFORET/AFP via Getty Images) Vincent Laforet/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina fill the streets near downtown New Orleans in August 2005. The storm caused enormous damage, displaced thousands of people and inspired a new era of hurricane science. David J. Phillip/AP hide caption
Hurricane science has come leaps and bounds since Katrina. The progress is now at risk
Left to right: Ronald Marshall poses for a portrait outside the prison he was held in when Katrina hit. Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams at his office in New Orleans. Meghan Garvey, the only full-time public defense attorney in New Orleans. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption