The Federal Emergency Management Agency housed Katrina-displaced people in 145,000 trailers. Today the trailers -- many of which emitted unsafe levels of formaldehyde -- have become a symbol of incompetence in the face of a national tragedy.
Following the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, the numbers of tourists visiting New Orleans dropped to nothing. The city's $5 billion tourism industry slowly recovered, however, and is now once again approaching pre-Katrina visitor levels.
Actor and humorist Harry Shearer, who made a new documentary about the man-made disaster that was Hurricane Katrina, says the media's coverage of the catastrophe was largely "grandstanding and showboating." There are exceptions, though.