Rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina

Stephen Scarff is a chaplain and hospice volunteer with the Visiting Nurses Association of Northern Massachusetts. A philanthropist, Stephen Scarff worked with Habitat for Humanity in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to help rebuild New Orleans. 

Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005. Its speeding winds and gushing floodwaters forced their way through New Orleans, destroying homes and sweeping away property worth billions. In its wake 1,577 Louisiana residents lost their lives, 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded, and more than 800,000 residents were displaced. 

Today, 13 years later, New Orleans is returning to its former vibrancy. The French Quarter, one of the city’s most popular tourist spots, stands resilient and as alive as ever. It is surrounded by inviting restaurants, clubs, and hotels. The St. Charles Streetcar is operating, the Garden District and Uptown are beaming with life, and the Warehouse District, with all its art galleries and museums, is as attractive as it ever was. Old places are being rebuilt and new places are springing up. 

Homes in some of the areas that experienced the most flooding like the Lower Ninth Ward have been rebuilt with the help of aid organizations. The levees that broke under the weight of the storm waters, causing rampant flooding, have been rebuilt and a 1.8-mile-long concrete wall has been erected in downtown New Orleans to reduce the risk of damage from a storm surge.