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TWO YEARS ON: A New Orleans resident reflecting on the tragedy at a vigil ahead of yesterday's anniversary. -- PHOTO: AP
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NEW ORLEANS - ON THE second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, anger over the stalled rebuilding was palpable throughout a city where the mourning for the dead and feelings of loss for flooded homes, schools, old-time hairstylists and hardware stores do not seem to have subsided.
Hurricane Katrina made landfall south of New Orleans on Aug 29, 2005 as a strong Category 3 hurricane that flooded 80 per cent of the city and killed more than 1,600 people in Louisiana and Mississippi. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.
Protest marchers, accompanied by brass bands, yesterday planned to walk from the obliterated Lower 9th Ward to Congo Square, a venerable spot where slaves were able to celebrate their culture.
Their message will be that the federal government has failed to help people return.
'People are angry and they want to send a message to politicians that they want them to do more and do it faster,' said the Reverend Marshall Truehill, a Baptist pastor and community activist. 'Nobody's going to be partying.'
At Charity Hospital, a 21-storey limestone hospital adorned with allegorical reliefs, public officials will attend a sombre groundbreaking for a victims' memorial and mausoleum that will house the remains of more than 100 victims still not identified.
'It's an emotional time. You re-live what happened and you remember how scattered everyone is now. There are relationships now that are completely over,' said Mr Robert Smallwood, a New Orleans writer.
Churches are holding memorial services, including one at the historic Saint Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square, and ringing bells in honour of the victims.
In keeping with the sombre atmosphere, a candlelight vigil was scheduled in Jackson Square at dusk yesterday.
The anniversary has also become an opportunity for the city to get media attention - for better or worse - and tell the nation what has happened to New Orleans since Katrina.
Likewise, the day has also attracted politicians - President George W. Bush chief among them.
He and First Lady Laura Bush arrived in the city on Tuesday night and dined with Ms Leah Chase, the Queen of Creole cooking, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and musician Irvin Mayfield.
And several presidential contenders, including senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, have visited the city in recent days.
While politicians have used the anniversary to pitch policy, think- tanks, scholars and activists have put out a steady stream of reports on the state of recovery efforts.
Meanwhile, an international people's tribunal has been convened to take testimony from survivors of the catastrophe.
The tribunal is spearheaded by legal activists trying to build a case under international law accusing the United States of human rights abuses during and after Hurricane Katrina.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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