Nearly a year later some neighborhoods in New Orleans’ St. Bernard Parish are like virtual ghost towns where abandoned commercial and residential property remains a vivid reminder of the devastation Hurricane Katrina left behind in August 2005. (Photos by Michael Alexander)

Gary Pujol of Ellis Construction Company cuts wood on an electric miter saw as repairs are underway at the Sisters of the Holy Family Motherhouse and Noviate chapel, New Orleans. In addition to this property, all of their buildings, which include a convent, an all-girls high school, assisted living facilities, and a nursing home, sustained water damage across the entire first floor.

A drive along the harbor through the West End neighborhood of New Orleans as late as July reveals the boats and yachts that still remain tossed over on their sides.

An exterior shot of St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Long Beach, Miss., shows the extensive damage sustained by the Mississippi Gulf Coast parish. Atlanta parishes Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Jude the Apostle have come to the aid of St. Thomas the Apostle over the past year.

The water line across the home in New Orleans’ Lakeview neighborhood is a visible sign of the severe flooding and water damage sustained by many of the city’s residents.

A statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the grounds of St. Paul Church, Pass Christian, Miss., miraculously survived the wrath of Hurricane Katrina.

Church remnants from St. Clare Church, Waveland, Miss., are openly displayed outside.

The evidence of broken homes and shattered lives is still a visible part of the landscape in the Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans.

An abandoned car sits on Flood Street in the desolate Lower 9th Ward neighborhood of New Orleans amid leaning power line poles.

A sign next to the Quonset hut that serves as St. Clare Church, Waveland, Miss., speaks to the steadfast faith of the community.

(Left) A shattered brick wall exposes the back of the tabernacle at St. Paul Church, Pass Christian, Miss.

A vacant lot of rubble is all that remains where St. Peter the Apostle School, Pascagoula, Miss., existed before Hurricane Katrina. A sign from August 2005 welcomes students back to school prior to Katrina, but this year they will attend Resurrection Elementary School in east Pascagoula. A hurricane relief ministry at Transfiguration Church, Marietta, has provided aid.