Voices From New Orleans

After the flood waters receded, people slowly began to rebuild their homes, their livelihoods, and their routines.
Five years later, many people say that they – and their lives - are now different than before Hurricane Katrina

Dennis Kehoe

Stacy Kranitz for The Wall Street Journal

Dennis Kehoe

Dennis Kehoe, 55, is a professor at Tulane University and teaches Roman history and Latin. He and his wife, Constance Mui, a professor of philosophy at Loyola University, lived in the Gentilly area before Katrina. After their house was flooded in the storm, they relocated to higher ground in the Uptown neighborhood.

"[Katrina] really changed things a lot in the city. I think everybody thinks of things as either before Katrina or after Katrina; it's like a B.C. and A.D. kind of thing. It was very difficult at first because we evacuated, and we knew our house was flooded, but we didn't know what the future held at all. Things are so much better university-wise in ways that would have been impossible to imagine in 2005. One thing our university did was reinvent itself so it emphasized community service. We certainly had idealistic students before, but I think we have more of them now. I've taken students out to see [the Katrina-ravaged areas] and they are totally shocked to see how awful everything looks. To me it doesn't look awful, it's just the way it is and it looks better than it did several years ago. So even though things look pretty challenging, if you have seen it for a long time, you do know there is progress, even if it is slow progress."

Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Johnson, a 58-year-old unemployed general contractor, his wife and two sons are still trying to rebuild the family's home in the Lower Ninth Ward.

"We lost everything—construction equipment, furniture, family stuff, antiques. The house is coming back slowly. We got a historic building grant from the state. Fortunately we got it, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to do a complete job. Emotionally, I am still falling apart. It comes and goes. The more you talk about it…it doesn't help. The more you complain, the more depressed you become. What I've got is the Bible to give me strength."

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