Katrina: The Debris // On The Road

Nearly a quarter of a million people evacuated to Houston from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, and in 2006 there were still about 150,000 Katrina evacuees in the Bayou City. As of 2012, 40,000 had resettled permanently from New Orleans to the Houston area.Katrina forever altered the relationship between these two Gulf Coast port cities. This week, we head west on I-10. 

Katrina: The Debris // Houston

According to a study by the Data Center, the Hispanic population of the New Orleans metro area has nearly doubled since the year 2000. Many people immigrated from Mexico and Central America, or migrated from other parts of the U.S. to work in cleanup and construction after Katrina. The Latino population of greater New Orleans continues to grow and reshape the culture of the city.

Katrina: The Debris // Nueva Orleans

Of all the changes New Orleans has seen in the ten years since Katrina, the restructuring of the city's public school system is perhaps the most drastic. In place of a traditional school district, most Orleans Parish schools are now governed by a loose confederation of charter operators. What does this new model mean for students, teachers, and parents in New Orleans? 

Katrina: The Debris // Education

The devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the floods that followed is most visible in pictures of ruined houses and people’s destroyed possessions lying out on city streets. But there’s unseen damage that runs even deeper: the collective emotional trauma experienced by the thousands of people who lived through it.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of New Orleanians who returned to the city says 50 percent of the respondents showed a need for mental health assistance. Another survey, of families who wound up in FEMA trailers, showed high rates of disability due to depression and anxiety.

This week on The Debris, we take a look at how disasters impact mental health in communities.

Katrina: The Debris // Mental Health

Louisiana, unlike many of its Deep South neighbors, restores voting rights to citizens with felony convictions after they have served their time. But many people who have served their time are still left out.

This episode of Unprisoned was produced by WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio and AIR as part of the Finding America project, with financial support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

People Who've Served Time Are Being Left Out Of Voting

Relocation, vanishing land, protection from greater flood and storm risk. Small island nations face these threats of rising seas, and so does Louisiana. At the UN climate change talks in Paris, WWNO's Tegan Wendland meets representatives from the Marshall Islands, Philippines and Madagascar who chime in on the challenges they share with Louisiana.


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From the UN climate change talks in Paris, WWNO's Tegan Wendland addresses a hot topic: deforestation. Louisiana cut down much of its cypress forest in the 1800s. Nations with large tracts of standing forest, like Brazil and Norway, have now agreed to help each other protect what's left. Meanwhile, Louisiana is growing pine trees for other nations to burn as energy, but how "clean" is that energy?

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A 'No Excuses' New Orleans Charter School Has A Change Of Heart

For One New Orleans Teen, Support At School Helps With Tough Times At Home

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