Katrina flooded nearly every building in St. Bernard Parish, leaving wide damage and displacing residents. Twenty years later oil and sugar refineries have reopened, but the local population is about two-thirds of its pre-storm level. New federally funded flood prevention measures are part of a regional $14.5 billion system intended to reduce future storm surge. Residents faced immediate recovery decisions, waiting for FEMA trailers and demanding closure of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet and stronger levees. The parish remains only a few feet above sea level, making it vulnerable to more intense hurricanes and severe flooding driven by climate change.
Katrina flooded nearly every building in St. Bernard Parish, just east of New Orleans. Twenty years after the storm, oil and sugar refineries are back, but the local population is just two-thirds of what it was before Katrina. This sprawling, blue-collar coastal community is still rebuilding and it's getting more optimistic about the future. New flood prevention measures are in place as part of a regional $14.5 billion federally-funded flood protection system.
It was flooded with about three-and-a-half feet of water and was not habitable. His family was staying in an apartment about 100 miles away, near Baton Rouge, while they waited for a FEMA trailer to show up so he could move back to his property. "Hopefully we'll be back within a couple of weeks and start to remodel the house," Potter said at the time.
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