Update on New Orleans...

With lightning in the distance, a man fishes in Lake Pontchartrain. Sewage and industrial chemicals still float in the lake, which bounds New Orleans' north and is home to 125 species of aquatic life.

The city's population has dropped by nearly 60 percent since Hurricane Katrina, far more sharply than recent optimistic estimates had suggested.

My guess is that many who left the city after Hurricane Katrina will never return. There are still huge bureaucratic problems getting financial support to people who lost their homes. On the positive side, the area seems to have escaped hurricanes this season.

(Photo: Joachim Ladefoged / VII )