Katrina Recovery Prioritizes White Neighborhoods; Black Neighborhoods Left for Months

Weeks after Hurricane Katrina, bodies remained unrecovered in predominantly Black neighborhoods while recovery equipment was deployed elsewhere. The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals acknowledged that the state's recovery contractor, Kenyon International Emergency Services, systematically cleared wealthier, whiter sections first. By some estimates, over 1,800 people died — approximately 51% of whom were Black despite comprising about 67% of pre-storm New Orleans.