New Orleans

28 August 2007 -- Two years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast of the United States, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans. The rebuilding process has been slow and painful for many, and more than 160,000 displaced residents have not returned.    » read more »

August 28, 2007 -- Dooky Chase Restaurant, New Orleans, Louisiana -- THE PRESIDENT: Ms. Chase, thank you for having us here. Laura and I are thrilled to be here with the Governor, and the Mayor, and the Senator, the congressmen, members of my Cabinet, distinguished leaders in this community, and quiet heroes who have helped bring optimism and hope to New Orleans.    » read more »

State and Federal Officials Slow to Move on Post-Katrina Environmental Clean-Up

NEW YORK (August 27th, 2007) – More than thirty percent of New Orleans schoolyards tested two years after Hurricane Katrina are contaminated with arsenic in amounts two- to three times the levels requiring cleanup under both state and federal law, according to findings released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). On first learning the results in June, NRDC immediately informed both the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) and the U.S.    » read more »

Builds on his existing agenda to help rebuild the Gulf Coast

Aug 27, 2007 -- New Orleans, Louisiana – Today, Senator John Edwards will visit New Orleans to participate in Senator Mary Landrieu's "Hope & Recovery" Summit, where he will announce six new proposals to strengthen recovery efforts in New Orleans and prevent another failure in federal response on the scale of what happened after Katrina and Rita hit. These proposals build on Edwards' existing plan to help the Gulf Coast rebuild.    » read more »

Thursday, August 23, 2007 -- ABC News will mark the 2nd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with a comprehensive series - "Katrina: Where Things Stand" - airing across ABC News broadcasts and platforms. The series begins Sunday, August 26 and will include "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts' return to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, investigative reports from Senior Law & Justice Correspondent Jim Avila, and reporting from "World News Sunday" anchor Dan Harris and correspondent Steve Osunsami in New Orleans.    » read more »

23 August 2007 -- Nearly two years have passed since Hurricane Katrina devastated swathes of the U.S. Gulf Coast, including the vibrant city of New Orleans. Since then, some who fled the region have returned, while others have chosen to start anew elsewhere. Among those who elected not to go back is a tight-knit Vietnamese-American family that had been a fixture of the New Orleans restaurant scene. Malcolm Brown reports on the Cao family's attempts to rebuild a business, far from the city they know.    » read more »

August 20, 2007 -- The RAND Gulf States Policy Institute (RGSPI), a division of the RAND Corporation, is expanding with the addition of a new office in the central business district of New Orleans.    » read more »

Aug 13, 2007 -- NEW ORLEANS - Standing today with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, US Reps William Jefferson and Charlie Melancon and other members of Congress visiting the Gulf Coast, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco thanked the 110th Congress for keeping its promise to the people of Louisiana.    » read more »

DOE Encourages Rebuilding Effort’s Focus on Efficiency

August 8, 2007 -- NEW ORLEANS, LA – U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today announced that DOE’s EnergySmart Schools Program will commit up to $1.5 million in technical assistance to provide as many as 75 comprehensive energy audits in public schools throughout the New Orleans area, identifying up to 25 percent in potential energy savings. Audits will include analysis of heating and cooling systems, lighting, and structural elements, such as roofing and building envelope assessments.    » read more »

Jul 15, 2007 -- New Orleans, Louisiana – Today, Senator John Edwards will visit New Orleans and take a walking tour of the Lower Ninth Ward, where he will announce his three-point plan to rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Edwards is in New Orleans to kick off his three-day, eight-state "Road to One America" tour to shine a bright spotlight on the issue of poverty in America.

"We are not the country of the Superdome in New Orleans after Katrina," said Edwards. "We can do better. We have a moral responsibility to get New Orleans back on its feet."    » read more »

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Following the Army Corps of Engineers' report on the vulnerability of large parts of New Orleans in the event of another significant hurricane, Senator John Edwards released the following statement.

"The people of New Orleans continue to be ill-served by the federal government -- first, when tens of thousands were left to fend for themselves after Katrina hit, and now again by President Bush and the Army Corps of Engineers. It's unacceptable that the Corps has not protected large parts of the city from the next major storm.    » read more »

June 5, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Last week, more than 700 emergency responders from 47 states and Puerto Rico traveled to New Orleans to receive training on equipment their departments will receive through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Fiscal Year 2006 Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program (CEDAP). This included representatives from 19 departments who recieved accelerated training and equipment delivery because they were located in areas at high risk for hurricanes, tornados, or wildfires.    » read more »

25 May 2007 -- U.S. government forecasters say they expect a "very active" Atlantic hurricane season this year. That's bad news for the 153 million Americans who live on or near the nation's coastlines. Coastal communities are especially vulnerable to hurricanes, and the city of New Orleans, struck in 2005 by the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history, is still at great risk.    » read more »

For more than 30 years, New Orleans has held a Jazz and Heritage Festival. This year's festival wraps up this weekend. Many well-known musicians come to play at Jazz Fest, but it is also an important showcase for local talent. That is especially important as the city still struggles to recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which struck in August 2005. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from New Orleans, one local group is doing its part to keep the city's musical heritage alive.    » read more »