Interactive Map: Progress in the Parishes

New Orleans Two Years After Katrina

August 27, 2007

Two years after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on New Orleans, the city is still struggling to get to its feet. Though many residents have returned, determined not to abandon their hometown, thousands more have yet to come home. Many more are still living in FEMA trailers, waiting for their home reconstruction costs to come through. Entire blocks of the city remain unlivable. Crime and gang violence are on the rise. Though some hospitals have reopened, the city's medical infrastructure is failing and a mental health care crisis is straining existing resources.

Click on the map below for a parish-by-parish look at how far New Orleans has come in the last two years and how far it has yet to go. Click on the icons for a snapshot of how each parish has progressed in terms of residents and businesses returning, and deciding to stay; the reopening of schools; and the restoration of public services vital to the life of any city, including hospitals, child care centers, and libraries.


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The city is showing some signs of recovery, due in large part to New Orleanians' determination to revive their city and the commitment of thousands of volunteers who have helped with reconstruction projects over the past two years. But their efforts can only do so much.

As the Center for American Progress argued in the report "Katrina and the Common Good," the renewal of New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast must be made a national domestic priority. When any one of us is down, all of us are down. The people of New Orleans and other areas are still down. We should do whatever is necessary to get people back on their feet.

For more information on this topic, please see:

• Katrina and the Common Good