This week marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
The devastating storm and subsequent levee failure caused over 1,800 deaths, left over a million people displaced, and damaged or destroyed more than a million homes and businesses on the Gulf Coast.
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
New Orleans is on the road to recovery, but racial inequities persist.
Tourism is booming and neighborhoods are coming back to life. But on Aug. 24, 2015, a new study revealed that while a majority of white residents think the recovery is complete, a majority of black residents think the job isn't done.
The community has a long way to go, but everywhere you look, there are signs of progress.
Getty Images photographer Mario Tama, who captured all of the photos featured in this story, was on the ground in New Orleans immediately after Hurricane Katrina and has followed the recovery effort.
"While there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done, to see the city well on the road to recovery is simply glorious to witness," he told Upworthy. "There is an energy, a vibrancy, a positive outlook among more residents than ever before."
Captured here in a series of five before-and-after photo sets is a closer look at the recovery effort in New Orleans over the last 10 years.
1. Gratitude at the Christian Community Baptist Church
In the top photo, parishioners gather during Sunday services in the rebuilt Christian Community Baptist Church in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. Below that is the church in 2007, early in the rebuilding process.
Photos by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
2. Rising from the ashes in the Seventh Ward
The top photo shows homes that were rebuilt in the city's Seventh Ward, once home to many of the original New Orleans jazz greats like Jelly Roll Morton and Sidney Bechet. The image beneath it captures the area in the aftermath of the storm, with widespread flooding and fires.
Photos by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
3. Making it right in the Ninth Ward
Founded by Brad Pitt in 2007, the Make It Right Foundation builds eco-friendly homes for communities in need. Since then, more than 100 brightly painted homes have been built in the Ninth Ward, and Pitt says more are on the way. Some of the new homes are featured in the first photo.
Below, a group of Amish volunteers tour the devastated Ninth Ward in February 2006.
Photos by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
4. The bridge back to normal
In the top photo, a girl gets off the school bus near the Claiborne Bridge in the Ninth Ward. Beneath it, survivors use makeshift oars to paddle their way to safety when flood waters inundated the city a decade ago.
Photos by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
5. The Saints go marching in
Fresh off their Super-Bowl-winning season, this 2010 photo captures the Saints and their return to glory in the Superdome. The stadium was a grim place during the storm, as shown in the photo below. Survivors were directed there for shelter but were met with a lack of resources, violence, and unlivable conditions.
Photos by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
10 years later, the recovery is far from over.
As schools succeed and local economies improve, there is hope for a return to normal. Or, at least, the start of a new norm, in a renewed New Orleans.
"I don't think I could have imagined the city so full of life 10 years on after seeing folks plucked from rooftops in 2005," Tama told Upworthy. "Having said that, there are some who haven't been able to return home, often those who have been priced out of the city due to climbing rents. Let's hope the city can find a way for those former residents to come home as well."
The sun sets over the Mississippi River in New Orleans. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
All of the photos in this post were taken by the talented Mario Tama of Getty Images. Many thanks to him for the interview as well. Follow Mario on Twitter for more great content.
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