Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana’s coast on August 29, 2005, claiming the lives of 1,464 Louisiana residents. Hurricane Rita followed three weeks later on September 24, 2005. The storms displaced more than 650,000 Louisianans, destroyed more than 200,000 homes, 40 schools, 10 hospitals and 200 square miles of Louisiana marshland. The storms damaged 835 schools, flooded more than 16,000 businesses and cost Louisiana more than 179,000 jobs. Louisiana’s estimated property losses totaled more than $100 billion. In the two years since these devastating storms, the people of Louisiana have focused on rebuilding their communities safer and stronger than before. Across South Louisiana citizens have come together to craft plans for the future of their cities and towns, creating long-range visions for a better state. Despite Louisiana’s daunting rebuilding challenges, the signs of progress are prevalent – from the increased traffic at the Lake Charles Airport to the streetcars rumbling down Canal Street in New Orleans. They are in the return of the Essence Festival that brought 200,000 people to the Crescent City and in the official reopening of South Cameron Memorial Hospital this fall. ProgressInLouisiana.org is the state’s official Virtual Media Center for journalists and will be updated throughout the months of August and September. To sign up for news alerts from ProgressInLouisiana.org, click here. To contact staff of the Virtual Media Center, e-mail press@progressinlouisiana.org.