AUGUST 2005—Throughout much of New Orleans, recovery from Katrina has been hindered by the city's many prestorm weaknesses and delayed by false starts. Nearly three years after the hurricane struck, there are signs of progress across the Crescent City, but it is difficult to avoid the lingering evidence of devastation in many neighborhoods. Here, shopping carts litter the street in front of the Convention Center, where thousands of people gathered hoping to be rescued after Katrina.