At age three, Rodney Lomax was stranded for five days living on an interstate overpass near the New Orleans Superdome with his grandmother and neighbors after the levees broke and flooded his home following Hurricane Katrina. His grandmother, Rhonda Lomax, shielded him from what horrors she could. In the wake of the storm, she made sure her grandson received therapy and proper support as he began to show signs of post traumatic stress syndrome. Twenty years later, Rodney still remembers the fear he felt in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina—as well as the protection and love that saved him. Story for TIME.
The Scientist and the Bats
Ecologist Peggy Eby’s discovery after decades of studying bats in Australia underscores the time and shoe-leather research needed to prevent future pandemics. Read the multi part ProPublica investigation here.
Notice of Eviction
In New Orleans, Black women have long been hard hit by evictions. The struggle is a grim echo of life after Hurricane Katrina, when Black women and families were slower to recover and permanently fled New Orleans in droves. For those who returned, many are reliving the trauma of housing instability, this time with the added risk of a deadly virus. Story for TIME.
Front Lines
Nurse Laurie Halbrook struggles with when she should begin quarantining herself away from her family as the peak of the pandemic passes through New Orleans. Story for TIME.
Unprotected
An acclaimed American charity said it was saving some of the world’s most vulnerable girls from sexual exploitation. But from the very beginning, girls were being raped. Read the full ProPublica investigation here.
Empty City
Quiet moments and signs of life, capturing the mood of New Orleans during the lockdown. Story for The New Yorker.
Covid Dreams
At the pandemic's start, people worldwide began dreaming about bug attacks—a shared pattern dream expert Deirdre Barrett, Ph.D. had never seen before. Dreams help us process emotions we typically suppress during daily life. This animation depicts one such dream from March 2020, which Barrett analyzed for this article. The dreamer associated the cardboard cutouts with Home Alone's scene where a child uses decoys to deter threats. Barrett noted this taps into primal fears of isolation and being imperiled—feelings many experienced during lockdown, whether alone or with just a few others, cut off from most of the world. Read the full story for TIME Studios here.
You are not alone
Twenty-five years ago, 14-year-old Jennifer Halter arrived at the gates of New Bethany Home for Girls excited about a new start at a boarding school. What happened there, she says, nearly killed her will to live. Now, Halter is on a painful journey back to Arcadia, La., to fulfill her dying wish: to report the man she says sexually abused her.
Essence of a Man
Marines reunite, and the injured becomes the healer.What is Hurricane Katrina?
Children born the year of the storm tell us what they know.
RNC: Inside and Out
A video diptych showing inside and out of the final night of the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa.
Testing Grounds
The latest industry being outsourced to India is clinical drug trials. Drugs are expensive, life is cheap.
Caught in the Crossfire