A year later, few homes are livable

Photographer Samantha Clemens wanted to show Missourian readers the devastation that still exists in New Orleans. Clemens worked in residential areas of the Gentilly neighborhood and part of the Mid-City neighborhood, covering roughly 10 blocks on the east and west sides of the London Avenue Canal, which breached during Hurricane Katrina.

She photographed every 10th house on the west side of every other street. Data on the amount of damage for these 135 properties was obtained from a city of New Orleans database. The damage to a majority of the homes in this area totaled about 50 percent of each home’s replacement value. Most are unlivable because of extensive interior damage. The 135 properties represent about 0.7 percent of the 19,000 homes in these areas.