In God we (must) trust

Tens of thousands are still living in cramped caravans provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema). Many schools have not reopened. Basic medical and social services are being provided by churches and charities, working out of caravans, who claim that stress levels have risen to an alarming degree. And, on top of all that, the city is experiencing a crime wave, up 33% on last year, with a murder on average every 1.8 days, putting it on course to become the murder capital of America by the end of the year.
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On a playground between a flyover and a cemetery, Janet Washington stood in the 38C heat and said she was sick of New Orleans. Aged 57, divorced, with grown up children, she shares a Fema trailer with her sister and brother-in-law. She cannot afford to live in New Orleans any more: she paid $500 (£250) in rent for an apartment before Katrina but, with the shortage of housing, would have to pay twice as much now.
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An African-American, she thinks race will determine the shape of the city: "I think they only want a segment of the community to come back. The majority of poor people are black and they have not planned on them coming back."
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People feel let down. T-shirts on sale read "Fema - Fix Everything My Ass". Only about a quarter of the compensation promised by the federal government for rebuilding homes has been paid out: 37,000 cheques out of 162,000 applications so far. Insurance companies too have been reluctant to pay out.
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Al Naomi, a senior project manager with the corps, said decisions about defences were not purely engineering ones but political and social. "Some people will get protection and some will not, and I do not know what will happen when they find out," he said.