New Orleans Say ‘Nothing's Different From Before ‘ After Katrina Storm

The die-out New Orleans' Lower Ninth greeted US President Barack Obama Friday, who visited for the ninth time since Katrina hit in 2005 causing thousands of deaths and widespread damage. Obama was in a good mood following the city's resurgence announcement. However, the reality is hard to face, as the storm-flooded Lower Ninth which was under 17ft of water has made no progress so far.

One of the Lower Ninth residents Mary Lewis, known as "Miss Mary", was reluctant to share Obama's joy.

"I seen him last time he was here," she told The Telegraph. "The government sent money down here but we don't know where it went. It's worse here now than it was before Katrina."

Previously known as a prosperous working class area of 14,000 people, it can hardly be called that now as the population since the hurricane has drastically decreased almost 5 times. New Orleans is more populated by "critters" than people, according to locals.

The New Orleans Data Center, which tracks progress in the city's recovery said that only just over half the housing that does exist in the Lower Ninth is occupied.

More than 30% of the population lives below the poverty line. The inability of the government to deal with the storm consequences caused racial inequality in the city as dozens of thousands of African-American households earn 50 per cent less than white ones and have expressed reluctance to come back after they left.

During his speech in the Lower Ninth, Obama proudly mentioned a newly built community center as a part of the rebuilding program, which although didn't inspire Elijah Jefferson, 73, who greeted the US President with a sign saying "Help me Mr Obama".

Mr Jefferson said: "Nothing's different from before. I'm being targeted by a hate group, a white supremacist group. I've been shot twice. This has been going on for 20 years."

The only ongoing construction activity appears to be at Tennessee Street, which differs dramatically from the rest of the Lower Ninth because of the Hollywood star Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation that built up more than 100 homes at a cost of $26.8 million.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina barreled into the Gulf Coast. It devastated the city of New Orleans. Hundreds of people died, thousands more were displaced, and levee failures flooded nearly 80 percent of the city.