Thousands Still Displaced A Decade After Hurricane Katrina

The city's Lower Ninth Ward was one of the worst-hit communities, with scores drowning in the disaster and thousands of homes being gutted by up to 12ft of water.

Only 34 per cent of 14,000 previous residents have been able to return home and less than half of businesses have reopened.

Many charities are working to rebuild, including the St Bernard Project and lowernine.org, which have described the immense challenges they face.

They say scores have been victims of construction fraud as fake companies pillaged what savings the majority African-American community possessed.

The area is also still littered with abandoned, boarded-up homes many of which have become infested with vermin and will be torn down.

Liz McCartney, from the St Bernard Project - which has helped rebuild 600 homes with help from 80,000 volunteers, said: "In our country, no community 10 years after a disaster should still be rebuilding.

"There are literally thousands of hard-working families sprinkled around the city who want to come home but do not have the financial resources to do that.

"Almost everyone who comes to us has been the victim of contractor fraud or cowboy builders. One lady lost $100,000 of savings when she attempted to have her home repaired and the company simply ran off with it.

"All she has left is the foundation of a home.

"I really think it will be at least another ten years until we are anywhere near a recovery."

Lower Nine and the St Bernard Project both struggle to get funding from the government and instead rely on volunteers, donations and fundraising from celebrities such as former president Bill Clinton.

Many of the roads are still crumbling and the watermark left by the flooding can be seen like a 'bathtub ring' around many buildings.

Laura Paul, executive director of lowernine.org, said: "I would argue the Lower Ninth Ward was one of the hardest hit and is certainly the slowest recovering community in the Gulf Coast Region.

"The flooding that occurred rendered 100 per cent of the residential properties here uninhabitable."

The charities blame the slow recovery on federal legislation and insurance that has resulted in many low income families getting little compensation to restore their own homes.

Grandparents Carl and Roberta Henderson were victims of the Katrina disaster. Roberta was staying with her sister at the time while Carl only escaped by driving through the immense flooding in a truck.

They were then watched on TV as the area was destroyed, including their home, which is now in the process of being rebuilt.

Army veteran Carl, 65, said: "Before this area was a lake. It was unbelievable. I'd never seen anything like it before in my life. It completely changed everything. I saw people on top of buildings and houses, hoping people would save them.

"When we eventually got back into our house it was a mess, the kitchen was in the front room and the front room was in the kitchen. 

"The refrigerator was floating down the street and I saw dead bodies floating in the water and food was rotting and everything else. 

"Everything was destroyed in two hours. Black mould formed on all the walls and we couldn't stay here and breathe it in - and all of that time it was total darkness because we had no electricity. 

"There was thefts, abuse and all sorts going on. Our house has been vandalised four times."

Roberta, who has had to pay $7,000 in land taxes during those years, added: "Even then we thought we would be back in within a year or two. We never thought it would be as long and drawn out as it is now."

Hurricane Katrina struck the Atlantic Coast of the USA in late August 2005 killing nearly 2,000 and causing an estimated $108 billion ($70 billion) of damage. 

It caused significant damage in Florida and Texas but the majority of damage was done to New Orleans, where 80 per cent of the city was flooded.