Undercurrent

New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was a devastated city: neglected by the authorities, deprived of basic services, deserted by thousands of its inhabitants, haunted by loss and tragedy. Jim Gabour, film producer, writer and director, decided to stay. In the months after Katrina, he sent a series of reports and reflections on how he, his family, his neighbours, friends and fellow-citizens were coping with the aftermath and reconstructing their homes and lives. These witty, understated, observant, characterful tales of the city are now collected in the fourth edition of the openDemocracy Quarterly. In Jim Gabour's everyday epics of survival and discovery, the heart and soul of wounded but life-affirming New Orleans quietly unfolds.