20 years ago last week, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, about 50 miles southeast of New Orleans. Thousands of people had evacuated in advance of the monster storm. But many stayed behind. And even before the storm made landfall, the levees protecting New Orleans began to fail, overwhelmed by heavy rain and massive storm surges.The flooding was catastrophic and the scars from Katrina, which killed nearly 1,400 people across the Gulf Coast, are still evident today.

Katrina remains the costliest storm on record and recovery has come in fits and starts.

In New Orleans, entire neighborhoods were decimated.

Brandon Bell / Getty Images / Getty Images

The disaster challenged the government's responsibility to its citizens and their citizens' responsibiliti

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