New Orleans & Katrina: Built on Water, Tested By Storm

New Orleans was built by water, and its survival has always depended on how people learned to live with it. On this two-hour walking tour, follow the Mississippi River through the story of a city shaped by flooding, commerce, slavery, immigration, engineering, music, and extraordinary cultural exchange. Discover why New Orleans was founded here, how the river created both opportunity and danger, and how levees, drainage canals, and pumps transformed the landscape. Follow that story through the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 to Hurricane Katrina, when failures in the flood-protection system devastated much of the city and exposed long-standing social and environmental vulnerabilities. Finally, explore what changed after Katrina and how coastal restoration, stronger storm protection, and a new approach to living with water are shaping the future of New Orleans.