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Slideshow: Katrina Then and Now

Children play basketball against the backdrop of the Gulf of Mexico at Gulfside Assembly in Waveland, Miss., in 1997. A multicultural conference, retreat and training center, Gulfside provided a meeting place for African-American church leaders in the South. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
Children play basketball against the backdrop of the Gulf of Mexico at Gulfside Assembly in Waveland, Miss., in 1997. A multicultural conference, retreat and training center, Gulfside provided a meeting place for African-American church leaders in the South. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Hurricane Katrina 10th anniversary slideshow


Photographer Mike DuBose takes a visual trip back in time to 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and compares the devastation then to the recovery that is still in progress.

Ten years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, hundreds of thousands of United Methodists have volunteered or donated money for the cleanup. In this slideshow, photographer Mike DuBose pairs photos from immediately after the storm with images that show how far the recovery has come a decade later.


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Disaster Relief
Sunlight streams through the stained-glass windows as the choir sings during worship at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in New Orleans in July 2025. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Members rallied to save church after Katrina

Reopening for outdoor services a month after Hurricane Katrina likely kept St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in New Orleans from having to close altogether.
Disaster Relief
Gary and Sallie Uhl describe their decision to try to stay in their flooded home following Hurricane Katrina and their eventual escape from the Lakeview neighborhood in New Orleans. They are members of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in New Orleans. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Riding to safety on a prayer

When it became necessary to leave their New Orleans home following Katrina, a United Methodist couple found a way out by driving their van down railroad tracks to Baton Rouge.
Church History
“A boy at Gulfside Waveland, Miss.” is the original description of this undated photo taken at Gulfside Assembly in Waveland, Miss. The historic African American camp, founded in 1925, was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Photo courtesy of Gulfside Assembly.

Gulfside Assembly 20 years after Katrina

Gulfside Assembly was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but the spirit of this special place can still be felt today.

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