New Orleans
From devastation to determination: Hurricane Katrina’s legacy in pictures
Hurricane Katrina resulted in nearly 1,400 deaths, according to revised statistics from the National Hurricane Center, and remains the costliest storm in U.S. history at around $200 billion in today's dollars.
Video: Echoes of Katrina – Two decades of struggle and strength
NPR station photographer and New Orleans native Tyrone Turner travelled back to Louisiana to document the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
New Orleans musicians found a home here after Katrina. Now, it’s raising the next generation
In the 9th Ward, New Orleans’ Musicians’ Village has been training the next generation of musical talent while providing affordable housing to many artists.
‘Down but not out’: The punk zine that helped keep New Orleans’ culture afloat after Katrina
When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Antigravity Magazine played a vital role in helping local media dispel rumors and keep their audience informed.
A ‘college for all’ push thrived in New Orleans after Katrina. It wasn’t for everyone
After Hurricane Katrina, many New Orleans charter schools united in a mission to send more students to college. Today, some of those students, now adults, wish they'd been given more options.
20 years after Hurricane Katrina, the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans still lags behind
No neighborhood was hit worse in Katrina than New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward and it's been one of the slowest areas to rebound. There's still an effort to attract new residents and businesses there.
A retired general recalls Hurricane Katrina’s chaos and lessons still unlearned
Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina, retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, who led recovery efforts as commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, urges people to be prepared for future disasters.
20 years after Katrina, New Orleans schools are still ‘a work in progress’
The city's school system looks almost nothing like it did 20 years ago. People in New Orleans have strong opinions about whether that's good or bad, but the data is hard to argue with.
It was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history: Have we forgotten Katrina’s lessons?
Nearly 1,400 people died after Hurricane Katrina crashed into Louisiana and Mississippi. Most of the deaths were in New Orleans, which has had an uneven recovery in the past 20 years.
New Orleans musicians feel the heat of rising temperatures: ‘You can hear it in the music’
Data from climate scientists show that the heat is turning up in New Orleans, and the rate that it’s increasing is getting faster. Here’s why.
Big Freedia takes bounce music to church on new album, ‘Pressing Onward’
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Big Freedia about her new album, "Pressing Onward," and how her childhood singing in the church led her to this moment, fusing gospel with her signature bounce music.
Amtrak’s new Gulf Coast line will start service in August; see details
Supporters say the line will boost tourism in the three states it connects, especially for the Mississippi cities along the coast.
A New Orleans restaurant owner’s Facebook was hacked. It put her business in jeopardy
While multi-million dollar ransomware attacks and data thefts targeting governments and industry giants grab headlines, small businesses increasingly find themselves in online scammers’ crosshairs.
Going Dutch: Harm reduction is embraced in the Netherlands but struggles in the US
The Netherlands has proven drug use harm reduction works. So why does it still face stigma, criminalization and political resistance in the Gulf South?
3 more escapees from a New Orleans jail are caught, leaving 2 at large, officials say
Three more of the 10 inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail earlier this month were re-arrested Monday in two different states after more than a week on the lam, authorities said.
A maintenance worker was arrested after a New Orleans jailbreak. Here’s what to know
Six of the 10 men who escaped from a New Orleans jail through a hole behind a toilet on Friday are still missing. Authorities believe they had help from the inside and made an arrest on Tuesday.
How neighborhoods in New Orleans are addressing urban flooding
Urban flooding has long plagued Treme, a historically Black neighborhood in New Orleans. Residents are getting creative to find solutions to the issue.
How HBCUs are helping grow the next generation of Gulf South environmental activists
Marginalized people often bear the brunt of environmental injustices. An annual conference in New Orleans is shaping young Black leaders to solve these issues.
Is planting trees ‘DEI’? Trump administration cuts nationwide tree-planting effort
The Trump administration's efforts to end DEI programs is hitting some unexpected targets, including a nationwide effort planting shade trees in neighborhoods to reduce extreme heat.
New Orleans has beefed up security for Mardi Gras. For smaller parading krewes, it’s costly
The city is requiring more police officers at parades this year, putting higher costs on smaller, independent krewes vital to New Orleans’ Mardi Gras heritage.
Tourism in New Orleans remains strong despite terrorist attack. Will the trend last?
The Super Bowl is in town, and so far, fears that visitors would avoid the big game because of January’s attack on Bourbon Street have not rang true.
U.S. veterans work to make sense of New Year’s Day incidents: It’s ‘doubly tragic’
U.S. veterans are worried that two deadly incidents involving current and former service members could increase stigma, or paint veterans as somehow damaged.
In New Orleans, focus shifts toward community recovery, healing after terror attack
Officials and health experts are working to make sure those affected by the Bourbon Street attack have access to the medical and financial resources they need.
Q&A: The little-known history of how enslaved people were jailed in antebellum New Orleans
Author John Bardes discusses how Louisiana’s complicated history with mass incarceration began with imprisonment being used as a tool against enslaved people.
One-day strikes are in: Why unions are keeping it short on the picket line
Strikes can be a double-edged sword. Keeping them short can help workers gain leverage while minimizing the pain for those who don’t have it.
A New Orleans garden paid hundreds of dollars in fees for a sewer that doesn’t exist
Galvez Garden owner Lissie Stewart has been fighting the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board over inaccurate billing for years.
The HBCU Legacy Bowl is more than a game. It also prepares students for life after sports
Organizers for the all-star game, now in its third year, host a career fair where HBCU students and recent grads plan for their futures before the big game.
Opioid overdoses are on the rise. A Louisiana medical student believes Narcan training can help
Losing his brother to an overdose inspired Jacob Bassin to arm his fellow medical students with free doses of Narcan and train them on how to use it.
LGBTQ doctors are leaving the Gulf South due to discrimination: ‘We weren’t welcome anymore’
The loss of specialized doctors due to the influx of anti-LGBTQ laws is the latest blow to a region already dealing with a shortage of health care providers.
Q&A: Why New Orleans’ unhoused people face increased danger from relentless heat
Delaney Nolan discusses her report for The Guardian that revealed a spike in heat-related illness calls among New Orleans’ unhoused people this summer.
In fight to remove divisive New Orleans highway, activists turn to new strategy — an EPA study
The Claiborne Avenue Alliance hopes a study on the health impacts caused by the expressway will support efforts to remediate and potentially remove the highway.
With ‘dollar stores in every direction,’ some communities are saying enough
Dollar General opens about three locations a day. Advocates against the rapid expansion released a four-step guide for keeping stores from opening.
