Obama praises Katrina rebuilding program

US President Barack Obama applauded the “extraordinary resilience” of New Orleans and its people when he visited the city on Thursday, a decade after Hurricane Katrina.

Obama toured the Lower Ninth Ward, one of the city's poorest, largely African-American neighborhoods, which saw catastrophic flooding and is still struggling to recover from the devastation wreaked by the storm. This visit is Obama's ninth to the 'Big Easy' as president.

“You are an example of what's possible when, in the face of tragedy and hardship, good people come together to lend a hand, and to build a better future,” he told residents gathered at a new community center, which was built following the disaster.

In August 2005, New Orleans was ravaged by one of the deadliest and most expensive hurricanes in US history, with property damage estimated at 95 billion euros ($108 billion.)

More than 1,800 people died and a million more residents were displaced when more than 80 percent of the city became submerged in storm water.

The disaster led to deep criticism of George W. Bush's administration as survivors struggled for several days without food, water or shelter.

The images of thousands of evacuees filling up the Louisiana Superdome and the New Orleans Civic Center came to symbolize failure at every level of US government during the crisis.

In his speech on Thursday, Obama acknowledged that Katrina helped expose a long-standing gap between rich and poor in New Orleans.

"What that storm revealed was another tragedy, one that had been brewing for decades. New Orleans had long been plagued by structural inequality that left too many people, especially poor people of color, without good jobs or affordable health care or decent housing," he said.

Massive reconstruction and investment has seen new flood protection put in place, much of the city's population return, and new businesses open faster than the national average. Obama said the progress made since has been "remarkable" and that New Orleans was "moving in the right direction."

But despite being billed as ‘America's comeback city', three out of five black residents think New Orleans has not recovered from the hurricane, and many complain of gentrification, after new wealthy residents bought up key sections of the city.

"Just because the houses are nice doesn't mean our job's done," Obama told reporters after shaking hands with residents in a brand new colorful neighborhood.

mm/lw (AFP, AP)