Without having been there—actually seeing it for yourself in person—it’s hard to comprehend just how hard Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, particularly the Lower Ninth Ward. When the levees broke, this neighborhood bore the brunt of the damage, altering the landscape in ways that defied logic. Roofs of houses lay in the middle of the street. Cars had been tossed around, littering yards, streets, and even front porches. Whole houses were lifted off their foundations. Personal items—remnants of people’s lives—scattered everywhere.

I went there a few months after the storm, when the very slow process of cleaning and rebuilding had just begun. Houses had been checked for bodies. Bulldozers had cleared some streets. Electricians worked to ensure that power lines were no longer live. Still, it was dizzying and overwhelming to stand in the middle of it all. I couldn’t even imagine what it would have been like to have lived there.

Aside from the cleanup crews, pretty much the only other people I saw in the neighborhood were photographers. At the time, these photos felt voyeuristic. In a way, they still do. But they also give a little sense of the scale and depth of the physical devastation wrought on the Lower Ninth Ward.

lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - panoramic of tree and destroyed houses
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - destroyed cars
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - house on top of car
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - panormic of house and tree
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - virgin mary water fountain in front of house
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - panoramic of destroyed neighborhood
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - panoramic of destroyed cars
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - panoramic of street
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - car on a house
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - panoramic of destroyed house
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - destroyed neighborhood
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - album cover in mud
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - roof in middle of the street
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - high water mark in house with closet open
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - street with knocked over power lines
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - car with Merry Christmas graffitied on it
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - Lord Is Here sign in front of church
lower 9th ward after hurricane katrina - birds flying over

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

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