AMERICA

Hurricane Katrina: New Orleans marks 10 years since disaster

Commemorations are taking place in the US city of New Orleans to mark the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

At a memorial service, Mayor Mitch Landrieu recalled how residents had turned to each other for support.

Former President Bill Clinton later spoke at a concert in the city.

Hurricane Katrina killed nearly 2,000 people and displaced one million. It was the most expensive natural disaster in US history and caused destruction along the Gulf coast.

In New Orleans, the failure of the levee system left about 80% of the city under water.

Mayor Landrieu led a sombre tribute to the 83 unidentified victims whose bodies lie in mausoleums at the city's Hurricane Katrina Memorial. "Though they are unnamed, they are not unclaimed because we claim them," he said.

 

 

 

"We saved each other," the mayor added. "New Orleans will be unbowed and unbroken."

Residents and community activists also gathered at the levee in the Lower Ninth Ward, where storm waters broke through and flooded the district.

Today the sun shone brightly in New Orleans. A decade ago Hurricane Katrina brought havoc to these same skies.

The city's Lower Ninth Ward was hit the hardest - at a wreath laying ceremony for victims there, some found the memories too hard to bear. As a solitary trumpet played in honour of the dead, one woman wailed uncontrollably. Everyone felt her pain.

But New Orleans is famous for its party spirit - and the day was also about moving forward. Large parts of the city have been rebuilt. But as marching bands paraded past abandoned homes untouched since the storm sucked the humanity from them, many told me much more needs to be done.

Katrina stole lives and homes, but not the city's heartbeat. As the world looks on a decade later, people in New Orleans, and across the country's Gulf Coast, want to ensure they're never forgotten.

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After speeches, a parade took place through the neighbourhood, with some participants in colourful Mardi Gras dress.

"It is kind of bittersweet. We want to celebrate because we are still here, but a lot of people are not," said Lower Ninth Ward resident Natasha Green, 36.

"It is important to remember what we went through here."

Throughout the day, thousands were expected to take part in traditional musical parades through the city's streets.

Former President Clinton later spoke at a free concert at the city's Smoothie King Center.

He said the sheer magnitude of what had been accomplished in rebuilding the city should not be underestimated, but that more work needed to be done so that the lines that divided communities - such as race and wealth - could be erased.

A hand-holding ceremony was also due to be held at the Superdome arena that housed thousands of displaced people after the storm.

President Barack Obama visited the Lower Ninth Ward on Thursday, praising "the extraordinary resilience of this city and its people".

But although the city has largely recovered from the disaster, some - particularly from the African-American community - feel left behind.

Dwight McKenna, publisher of African-American newspaper the New Orleans Tribune, told the BBC that rebuilt public housing projects were now too expensive for many poor black people to move back to.

"The population of New Orleans... is 100,000 less black people than prior to Katrina. Black people have been left out of the recovery altogether," he said.

On Friday, another former President, George W Bush, visited New Orleans.

His administration was criticised at the time over its slow response and the issue remains a source of deep resentment in the city.

In a speech, he said he would never forget the images of "misery and ruin".

Neighbouring Mississippi was also marking the anniversary and on Saturday morning church bells rang out across coastal Hancock County.

In Biloxi, a memorial to Katrina's victims was held at a newly built Minor League Baseball park which will later host a concert.

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Boko Haram crisis: Nigeria 'disrupts Boko Haram airport cell'

 

Nigeria's intelligence agency has warned of a possible attack on the airport in its capital after disrupting what it said was a Boko Haram cell.

Authorities said on Friday that a boy, 14, had been arrested for spying on security procedures at Abuja's airport.
Security forces are working to prevent "any possible attack and to ensure adequate security at the airports" in response, the agency said.
It said agents are still searching for militants who were directing the boy.
He was instructed to pass on details about "passenger screening, boarding procedures and other processes in the departure and arrival halls," according to a statement from the Department of State Services (DSS).
The DSS said the arrest of the 14-year-old had "disrupted a spying network mounted by the Boko Haram terrorists".
It said the network was discovered on Monday and it was working with aviation authorities to pre-empt any attack at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
Boko Haram has waged a six-year violent campaign in Nigeria, killing thousands and forcing millions to flee their homes.
The bloodshed has been largely confined to the northeast of the country where the group has declared an Islamic state.

A GLANCE OF BOKO HARAM 

 

The Sect and Some of the attrocities committed:

• Founded in 2002, initially focused on opposing Western-style education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
• Launched military operations in 2009
• Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, abducted hundreds, including at least 200 schoolgirls
• Joined Islamic State, now calls itself "West African province"
• Seized large area in north-east, where it declared caliphate
• Regional force has retaken most territory this year