New Orleans, Aug 9 Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans, the southern US city famed for its nonstop nightlife, vibrant music, and spicy cuisine, is launching a series of tributes, workshops, and acts of service as an anniversary commemoration.
The 2005 disaster left more than 1,800 dead.
"Today is really an opportunity to hit the reset button to reignite our community in unity that will take us 20 years from now, empowered to move forward for the next 20," New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at a press conference Friday when announcing a week of civic actions and public dialogues from August 23 to 30.
Cantrell emphasised resilience as the central theme of this year's commemoration. "What we're saying is what we're living. New Orleans is resilient, and we are uplifting and recognising how our residents continue to push forward," she later told Xinhua news agency.
The schedule begins from August 23 with a citywide Day of Service, which will bring residents together for community projects, including the revitalisation of public playgrounds.
On August 28, artists and cultural leaders will gather at the New Orleans Jazz Museum for a panel discussion, "The State of New Orleans Culture: 20 Years After Katrina."
The following day, August 29, the anniversary of the storm's landfall, will feature the iconic Katrina March and Second Line, starting with a healing ceremony and culminating in a rally for community resilience.
On August 30, the mayor's Hurricane Katrina 20th Anniversary Commemorative Summit will reflect on the storm's impact, the city's rebuilding efforts, and ongoing challenges such as poor infrastructure and climate injustice in underserved communities.
The city is already hosting a number of events leading up to the anniversary, including art exhibitions, film screenings, and music showcases, Xinhua news agency reported.
Beyond Louisiana state, Mississippi is hosting the "Hurricane Katrina: Mississippi Remembers" photo exhibit in Jackson that runs through November.
Nationally, documentaries and TV specials, from The Weather Channel's Katrina 20 to Spike Lee's Netflix documentary series "Katrina: Come Hell and High Water," will revisit the storm's legacy and lessons learned.
"Hurricane Katrina impacted all of us, and it took all of us to recover," New Orleans organisers said in a statement.
Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, is one of the deadliest and most destructive storms in US history. New Orleans, the Mississippi River city near the Gulf of Mexico, is where the storm hit hardest.
The storm's powerful winds and a massive storm surge overwhelmed New Orleans' levee system, causing more than 50 breaches and flooding approximately 80 per cent of the city, according to city records.
Entire neighborhoods were submerged, displacing tens of thousands and exposing critical failures in infrastructure and emergency response, the City of New Orleans said on its official webpage, commenting on the storm's impact 20 years after.
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