NPR: Hurricane Katrina, One Year Later podcast (News)

One year after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, NPR's John Ydstie traveled to the Gulf Coast to find out how people are making their way home after the costliest disaster in the nation's history.

When Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, it also devastated families. Nearly 1700 people were killed by the storm and many families were seperated; dispersed to different parts of the country. Almost a year later, people are still searching for loved ones and authorities are still recovering bodies. NPR's Sheryl Corely has the story from New Orleans.

Almost a year after Hurricane Katrina, there is a serious crime wave in New Orleans. Shootings, theft and murder are on the rise and the city's police department is struggling to keep up. City officials are worried that it might keep people and businesses from coming back. NPR's Laura Sullivan has this report.

There's been a lot of talk along the Gulf Coast about how to rebuild places devastated after Hurricane Katrina. But that attention has not lead to a lot of construction. NPR's Kathy Lohr introduces us to two different experiences in Gulfport. One family who, unlike most affected, has the money to build his dream home and another who struggle to recover in the FEMA-run trailer parks.

In the year since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has been trying to get back to normal. But that has not been an easy task. People have had to rebuild not only their houses, but also their lives. NPR's Steve Inskeep was back in New Orleans recently, and sent this audio postcard of one day in that struggle.

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans a year ago, the breached levees, the flooding, and the devastation of large parts of the city were not a surprise to many scientists. They'd been warning of just such a catastrophe for years. NPR's Daniel Zwerdling described those scenarios in a 2002 documentary on "All Things Considered."