The Mississippi Governor’s Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal aims for no less than an “economic renaissance for coastal Mississippi,” says its chairman Jim Barksdale, a former president and C.E.O. of Netscape.

After scattering around the country and being placed in emergency shelters, hurricane evacuees are now in need of more permanent housing.

At press time in mid-September, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) had drained nearly 90 percent of the brackish, oily, bacteria-laden floodwaters that have inundated low-lying areas of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

The Louisiana Superdome, where thousands sought shelter from Hurricane Katrina last month, stands damaged with parts of its roof torn off.

Architecture firms in Gulf Coast region struggle to find footing.

Hurricane Katrina devastates Gulf Coast region, severely compromises architectural landscape.

After the flood: rebuilding the physical and social fabric.

Baton Rouge became the largest city in Louisiana overnight, when evacuees fleeing Hurricane Katrina ballooned the area’s population from roughly 400,000 to 800,000, according to Walter Monsour, the city’s chief administrative officer.