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Five years ago on Monday August 29th Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Southeast coast of Louisiana causing severe infrastructure damage but not directly causing any loss of life. However, extensive damage to the levees protecting the city of New Orleans from post-hurricane floods, triggered a post-storm disaster that few expected. As flood levels rose in the city in the days following the storm, thousands of residents who either chose to stay, or could not afford to evacuate, were trapped. The ensuing disaster eventually killed nearly 2000 people and became a low point in President George W Bush’s tenure, as the federal government’s response, or lack thereof, did little to alleviate the situation. With mass media coverage portraying the majority black residents of New Orleans as looters and rapists, Katrina became a symbol of the worst of the US’s racism, institutionalized and otherwise. Five years later, residents of the city still wait for relief. Many are separated from family members after having been forced to relocate. Suicide rates are up, as are diagnoses of substance abuse and Post-traumatic stress disorder. With this year’s oil spill from the exploded off-shore oil rig operated by BP, the Gulf Coast has once more been set back from its recovery efforts. Yet, in the nexus of so much tragedy, community activism and resistance that has been part of the heart and soul of New Orleans, has risen up to the challenge. In a new book called Floodlines: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six, New Orleans-based journalist and Katrina survivor Jordan Flaherty paints a vivid and loving picture of how ordinary people and long-time activists have worked against all odds to attempt to rebuild one of the US’s most unique cities.

GUEST: Jordan Flaherty, writer and community organizer based in New Orleans, author of “Floodlines: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six”

Read more about Flaherty’s book at www.floodlines.org.