The Katrina disaster now

New Orleans skyline

The sun rises over the New Orleans skyline in 2007, two years after the Katrina catastrophe. A program, “The Katrina Disaster Now,” takes place on Nov. 17 to reflect on the meaning of the storm and the city"s recovery from it. (Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano)


A clarinetist, a levee activist, a poet and a doctor are among a diverse group of Louisianans who will reflect on Hurricane Katrina then and now at the last in a series of Katrina anniversary programs Tuesday (Nov. 17) at Tulane University.

Sponsored by the Environmental Studies Program and the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South, “The Katrina Disaster Now” program will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Freeman Auditorium of the Woldenberg Art Center on the uptown campus, followed by dinner. The event is free and open to the public.

“We have assembled a profoundly interesting array of Louisianans to reflect on what the phrase "the Katrina disaster now" means to them,” says event organizer Andy Horowitz, an assistant professor of history who is teaching a class called The Katrina Disaster Now at Tulane this semester.

Speakers include clarinetist Dr. Michael White, levees.org founder Sandy Rosenthal, poet Kalamu ya Salaam, Louisiana Bucket Brigade founder Anne Rolfes, Ashe Cultural Arts Center director Carol Bebelle, Tulane Katrina class alum Denali Lander and public housing activist Kawana Jasper.

A construction worker, a Charity Hospital doctor, a librarian, a photographer, and a teacher are also among those scheduled to speak.

Each speaker will have five minutes to talk, and then all participants and audience members are invited to continue the conversation over dinner in the 1834 Club on the second floor of the Lavin-Bernick Center, also on the uptown campus.