New Orleans is gone
Caroline, 17, shares the photos she took of the city a few days before Hurricane Katrina.
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Pre-Katrina New Orleans photo gallery
Pre-Katrina New Orleans photo gallery
When I visited New Orleans with my family from Aug. 23 to 27, it never occurred to me that my vacation photos would be some of the last taken of the city intact. Back home, a friend asked me how I felt. I felt lucky, but it was a bittersweet luck. It is a wonderful city, full of unusual characters. I hope the people in these photos are OK. It’s heartbreaking to think that such a lively community was shut down so easily and that, not matter how well the reconstruction goes, there will aways be a cloud hanging over them.