Overview

• City events include a Lower Ninth Ward gathering, a wreath-laying for unidentified victims, a minute of silence at 11:20 a.m., and a large second-line parade, with leaders seeking state holiday status for the date.
• The 2005 levee failures flooded about 80% of New Orleans; a $14 billion Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System now stands, yet experts cite ongoing risks from subsidence, wetland loss and stronger storms.
• New Orleans’ population stands at about 384,000, and tens of thousands of Black residents never returned, with reporting pointing to a flawed, racially biased rebuilding loan program and a shortage of affordable housing.
• Survivors who were children report lasting mental-health effects, and new documentaries and memorial programming are refocusing attention on trauma, displacement and uneven recovery.
• Disaster specialists warn that staffing losses at FEMA and NOAA and proposed overhauls have weakened preparedness, raising concerns about the government’s capacity to respond to a Katrina-scale event.