NEW ORLEANS — A wreath-laying ceremony at a memorial in a historic New Orleans cemetery is among the memorial activities planned for the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Julian Castro, the U.S Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is among those scheduled to take part in the ceremony.
Todday marks nine years since the Aug. 29, 2005, storm hit. It’s blamed for more than 1,800 Gulf Coast deaths. In New Orleans, federal levee failures unleashed catastrophic flooding, destruction and damage were widespread.
The city continues to recover.
The Data Center, an independent organization that gathers facts about southeast Louisiana, says Census figures show New Orleans with an estimated population of 378,715 as of mid-2013. That’s 78 percent of its 2000 population of 484,674.
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