Hope and Recovery

The Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Alba Hernandez, 14, carries a puppy her neighbors left behind during the storm. Soldiers rescued it from the home in New Orleans.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

A dog swims toward a boat in New Orleans. The Friends of Animals Society of Utah rescued the dog.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Some of the many letters and pictures found by Times reporter Alan Zarembo on a freeway overpass, where prison inmates left them during their evacuation.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Troops guard a Food Mart store on the outskirts of Jefferson Parish. Residents will not be allowed to return for another three weeks.  (Gina Ferazzi / LAT)

Sharon Bonura of Metairie waits with her grandchildren, Savannah Mason, 2, left, and Gabriel Mason, 4, in a long line to buy food and supplies at a Wal-Mart store in Butte, La. The roof of Bonura’s house was damaged in the hurricane, and running water has not been restored. The store was open for only a few hours. Some customers had to wait for as long as two hours to get in.  (Gina Ferazzi / LAT)

Georgia Comeaux of Westwego, La., south of New Orleans, rests her head on her hand while waiting in line to buy food and supplies at a Wal-Mart store in Butte, La.. She waited more than one hour to get in.  (Gina Ferazzi / LAT)

The old movie theater near the waterfront in Pass Christian, Miss., was demolished by the hurricane.  (Mark Boster / LAT)

The Pass Purchasing building that used to house a fish market is one of the few waterfront structures still standing in Pass Christian, Miss.  (Mark Boster / LAT)

Katrina nearly wiped Pass Christian, Miss., off the map.  (Mark Boster / LAT)

After riding out Katrina on the roof of his Pass Christian home, Bruce Phelps has his hair cut by stylist Sandy Marie in Long Beach, Miss.  (Mark Boster / LAT)

Although the water level has receded, entire neighborhoods like this one off Bullard Avenue in New Orleans still remain under water.  (Robert Gauthier / LAT)

Marines used amphibious assault vehicles to search for survivors in the flooded neighborhoods of northeast New Orleans.  (Robert Gauthier / LAT)

Police Officer Patrick Hartman recovers a handmade sign asking for help as he searches for survivors and victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.  (Robert Gauthier / LAT)

Earl Cephus talks with relatives in Chicago on a satellite phone after being evacuated from his home in New Orleans. He asked them to tell his wife in Texas that he was alive and well.  (Robert Gauthier / LAT)

Erik Cone, a U.S. Marine, tries to avoid walking in the toxic floodwaters surrounding a New Orleans home as he searches for survivors.  (Robert Gauthier / LAT)

Police Officer Michael Duzmar waits as Officer Patrick Hartman enters a New Orleans home through a second-story window. They were searching for holdouts.  (Robert Gauthier / LAT)