Recovering from Hurricane Katrina

The Gulf Coast has turned into a floodplain. Entire neighborhoods are underwater and power is down. The Pentagon has stepped in to mobilize a rescue-and-relief mission as Hurricane Katrina refugees moved to the Houston Astrodome.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin says it could be four months before people can return to their homes. The Big Easy, so famous for its dusk-to-dawn partying, is singing the blues.

What it will take to bring New Orleans and the Gulf Coast above water and what's ahead for the area?

Guests:

Steven French, Director of the Center of Geographic Information Systems and professor of city and regional planning at Georgia Institute of Technology.

Thomas Campanella, Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is co-editor of "The Resilient City: How Modern Cities Recover From Disaster."

Robert Boh, Owner of Boh Brothers Construction, which started doing business in New Orleans in 1909. In 2004, it was the fifth largest private company in New Orleans. In March 2004, Boh Brothers Construction began work, for the New Orleans District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, on a $35.7 million "sector gate complex" for flood protection.

Anthony Yezer, Professor of economics, George Washington University. Fellow, Homer Hoyt School of Advanced Studies in Real Estate and Urban Economics. He served on the National Academy of Sciences panel on Disaster Research Needs in the Social Sciences.