Demolition under way at New Orleans Six Flags amusement park abandoned after Hurricane Katrina
Many remember the devastation of Hurricane Katrina that devoured the city of New Orleans in 2005, leaving the Six Flags Complex in Eastern New Orleans in shambles.
20 years later, the ruins of the once great amusement park remain as an ugly scar in the city's history. The area is finally undergoing a much-needed renovation.
An estimated 1,833 people died from Hurricane Katrina and the flooding that followed. Wind gusts up to 100 mph were observed during this record-breaking storm.
In addition, torrential rains overwhelmed the city's extensive levee system, triggering extensive flooding. Up to 80% of New Orleans was underwater.
FOX Weather correspondent Brandy Campbell had the privilege of growing up in the New Orleans area, and remembers the amusement park well.
"It was a spot my sisters and I loved going to as it was one of the biggest attractions in the city for families," said Campbell. "The big rides were my favorites, like the Mega Zeph. It's the big wooden coaster that you can still see as you pass the park from the interstate. Unfortunately, it's been a reminder of what Katrina took from the city that was never revived. Something I wished could have returned."
Katrina caused $161 billion in damage and was the costliest hurricane on record, according to The George W. Bush Library.
Developers Bayou Phoenix plan on carefully studying the pre-existing infrastructure and foundational issues within those structures before moving forward tearing down 62 structures – including the Mega Zeph – according to FOX 8 New Orleans.
Plans for reconstruction strive for a family-friendly environment—a destination with a valued marketplace to fill the hole that New Orleans has been missing since 2005. The master development plan from Bayou Phoenix states that the area will include an indoor/outdoor waterpark, a sports complex, and a family entertainment center.
There will be a resort hotel that will contain up to 300 rooms, as well as a franchise hotel that will hold 100 rooms. There will be more than 3,000 parking spaces available to visit the complex.
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The developer hopes these ideas will bring the community together and help the local economy flourish.Original article source: Demolition under way at New Orleans Six Flags amusement park abandoned after Hurricane Katrina
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CNN
a day ago
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CNN Uncovers New Orleans: Soul of a City in New 4-Part Original Series
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'Rebirth of the Superdome' features interviews with former Saints players Malcolm Jenkins, Deuce McAllister, and Devery Henderson, former mayor Mitch Landrieu, former Superdome general manager Doug Thornton, Wendell Pierce, James Carville, Pam Oliver, Emeril Lagasse, Wynton Marsalis and other New Orleans icons. While the first episode tells the story of the Superdome, the full four-part series explores the many ways the city communes with its history — through music, food, sports, and tradition — revealing how, 20 years after Katrina, New Orleans is louder and more resilient than ever. 'New Orleans is a city that lives its history out loud — in its music, its food, its traditions, and in the way its people rally together,' said Eric Johnson, Executive Producer, CNN Original Series. 'The story of the Superdome is the story of a city's resilience, and it's just the beginning of what we explore in this series.' Following this special preview event, New Orleans: Soul of a City will premiere all four episodes beginning on Sunday, October 5 on Sundays at 10pm ET/PT. New Orleans: Soul of a City is executive produced by Eric Johnson. Amy Entelis and Katie Hinman are executive producers for CNN Studios. 'Rebirth of the Superdome' will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN connected TV and mobile apps on Sunday, August 24. It will also be available on demand beginning Monday, August 25 to pay TV subscribers via CNN connected TV and mobile apps, and Cable Operator Platforms. ### About CNN Originals The CNN Originals group develops, produces and acquires original, long-form unscripted programming for CNN Worldwide. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent, CNN Originals and creative development, oversees the award-winning CNN Originals portfolio that includes the following premium content brands: CNN Original Series, CNN Films, CNN Flashdocs, and CNN Studios. Since 2012, the team has overseen and executive produced more than 60 multi-part documentary series and 70 feature-length documentary films, earning more than 120 awards and 450 nominations for the cable network, including CNN Films' first Academy Award® for Navalny . Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy® Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown ; five time Emmy® nominee, Apollo 11 , directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid directed by Matt Tyrnauer; Emmy® nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico ; the Emmy® Award-nominated 'Decades Series': The Sixties , The Seventies , The Eighties , The Nineties , The 2000s , and The 2010s, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman; The Last Movie Stars , directed by Ethan Hawke about the lives and careers of actors and humanitarians Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; the Emmy® Award winning Little Richard: I Am Everything , directed by Lisa Cortés; Luther Vandross: Never Too Much , directed by Dawn Porter; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart ; Primetime Emmy® and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, RBG , directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; See It Loud: The History of Black Television , executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter; Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight in partnership with the BBC; the Producers Guild Award and three-time Emmy® Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy ; T his is Life with Lisa Ling ; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers , directed by Tim Wardle; the five-time Emmy® Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell ; the American version of the long-running UK comedy series, Have I Got News For You , hosted by Roy Wood Jr; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper . CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, the CNN Original Hub on Max and discovery+, the CNN Originals FAST channel, and for pay TV subscription via CNN apps and cable operator platforms. About Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world's most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across television, film and streaming. Available in more than 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Warner Bros. Discovery inspires, informs and entertains audiences worldwide through its iconic brands and products including: Discovery Channel, discovery+, CNN, DC, Eurosport, HBO, HGTV, Food Network, OWN, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Magnolia Network, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, Max, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. Film Group, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Games, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, Discovery en Español, Hogar de HGTV and others. For more information, please visit Press Contact
Forbes
4 days ago
- Forbes
New Orleans Visual Arts 20 Years After Katrina
In this satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Katrina is seen at 1:15 PM (EST) August 29, 2005 over the Gulf Coast. Katrina, now a Category 2 strom with 105 mph winds, made landfall close to Empire, Louisiana at about 6:00 AM (CDT). (Photo by NOAA via Getty Images) Getty Images In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, putting New Orleans' arts community back together was low on the list of priorities. Hundreds of residents died. Seventy-percent of housing damaged, much of it a total loss. Large portions of the city completely destroyed. Finding jobs for artists and curators and reopening galleries and hosting art walks and exhibitions again took years. Years. Once that did happen, however, New Orleans' arts community, particularly the visual arts–its music and culinary scenes have always been world class – elevated beyond what had been previously achieved. In a perverse way, Katrina is responsible for that. Global attention generated by the storm introduced the world to New Orleans' fine artists like never before. The world liked what it saw. NOLA's perception changed from bawdy Burbon Street and wacky outpost of jazz and gumbo to an important stop on the international art circuit, an arts destination, a city loaded with talented artists making profound statements. 'We'd always known we had the quality here, we just never had the spotlight,' New Orleans artist and gallery owner Jonathan Ferrara told 'Now, you wouldn't want the spotlight to come from Katrina, but it's a silver lining.' In recognition of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, making landfall in Louisiana on August 29, 2005, Ferrara-Showman Gallery presents 'This City Holds Us' through September 13, 2025, not an exhibition of Katrina artwork, an exhibition of New Orleans artists who survived Katrina and how their art making has evolved. 'A celebration of triumph,' as Ferrara calls it. 'Destructoville' NEW ORLEANS - SEPTEMBER 01: Survivors walk to high ground after being evacuated from high water to a highway September 1, 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Rescue efforts continue as officials in New Orleans fear the death toll from Hurricane Katrina could be in the thousands. (Photo by) Getty Images Gina Phillips moved to New Orleans in 1995 to attend Tulane University's MFA program in studio art. After graduating, she stayed in town, eventually purchasing a blighted house in the city's Lower Ninth Ward sight unseen through a Housing and Urban Development auction. She spent a year renovating the home, then took a vacation to celebrate the project's completion. Katrina arrived while she was away. Phillips is one of the Katrina survivor artists featured in the Ferrara-Showman exhibition. She returned to New Orleans a year after the storm, living in a FEMA trailer in her back yard and started working on the house. Again. Other homes remained in the middle of the street. The Lower Ninth Ward was ground zero for the impact of the storm, the failure of the levees which were designed to keep flood water and water from Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne out of the New Orleans 'bowl' where all the people live. She referred to the neighborhood as 'Destructoville.' There was no mail service. No garbage pickup. Power came from generators. Over a year later. 'The first couple years, we were all just trying to get our own shit together–like literally build your house back,' Ferrara said. 'It was difficult to think about where does a gallery fit? Where does the (art) scene fit in, but like anything that happens in New Orleans, it happened organically. Art bubbles up, the music does too, the culture. New Orleans doesn't go away. We survive against all odds. The culture is the standard bearer for that survival. It's one of the reasons why people live here. We just started to do what we had done before, but there was (attention) on us all the time.' Phillips and Ferrara both credit Prospect, a citywide contemporary art triennial and the first exhibition of its kind in the US, as continuing to bring attention to New Orleans and its arts community after the news crews left. The first Prospect debuted in 2008. Enough time for enough artists and art workers in New Orleans to get their shit together to the point where they could think about artmaking again. Phillips moved back into her twice renovated home in the fall of 2007 having lived in the FEMA trailer–a toxic one, another story for another day–for nearly 18 months. It took about three years after the storm before her life and basic human necessities were stable enough to the point where she the time–the luxury–to start thinking about new artwork and what that might look like. That three-year timeframe coincided with the launch of Prospect, a project supporting and highlighting New Orleans artists, but more broadly, thinking about what the role of artists could be in rebuilding the city? New Orleans was being reinvented in real time. Along with devastation comes opportunity. Locals were disgusted with city leadership's inept handling of the crisis. They were booted out. Artists held voices in decision making they wouldn't have had before. 'Prospect was an exciting time to be an artist in New Orleans and be seen on a national and international level,' Ferrara said. The city's artists stood up and stood out. Unlike their public officials, artists met the moment. The global contemporary art world came calling to New Orleans for Prospect and left bewitched. New Orleans does that to people. 'I always said to people as I traveled, as an artist, you could not go through the worst manmade natural disaster in American history and at some point not have great art come from that,' Ferrara continued. 'Maybe not immediately as you're getting your life back together, but that trauma has to be processed in some way, and I think that one of the pillars of the resurgence of New Orleans' art is, after the fact, in some way, processed through an artist's DNA.' Where New Orleans artists had survived in the immediate aftermath of Katrina on grants and support from big national arts foundations like the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Prosect fanfare allowed them to raise prices across the board. New Orleans artists became 'hot.' Trendy. Trauma trendy, but trendy none the less. Outside collectors wanting to sound avant-garde at cocktail parties talked about the New Orleans artist they just 'discovered.' Prospect brought collectors and patrons and attention to the city's visual artists which has maintained through today. 'The market for art virtually dried up,' Jill McGaughey, owner of Jillian Mack Fine Art, told of the storm's immediate aftermath. She's owned and managed galleries in New Orleans since 2000. 'There were no tourists. Hotels were full of insurance adjusters, contractors, journalists, and politicians–none of whom were buying art from any galleries or studios. As businesses tried to flicker back to life, locals were repairing houses and replacing furniture before they could get around to replenishing art collections.' Artists had grants to fall back on, but no such lifeline existed for galleries. Ferrara took his gallery program on the road for nearly a decade after the storm, focusing on fairs, taking the work of local artists to the world. Neighborhood galleries that had been open for years, connecting artists with collectors, were there one day and gone the next, never to reopen. But again, three years or so after the storm, as tourism started returning, as residents began putting their homes and lives back together again, New Orleanians started thinking about art, as they always do. 'After the dry spell, there was a big surge of homerism and locals avidly went out and purchased from local businesses and artists,' McGaughey remembers. 'Artists, naturally, were responding to Hurricane Katrina in their work, so there were a lot of very topical shows. A lot of found objects made their way into innovative mixed media works. The artists were our eyes and ears, giving expression to what we had endured, trying to make sense of it somehow.' McGaughey singles out the New Orleans Museum of Art's massive exhibition of local artist photography held in 2006, 'Katrina Exposed: A Photographic Reckoning,' as a particularly powerful presentation of post-Katrina artwork. Then, Something Unexpected Happened Matthew Weldon Showman (left) with Jonathan Ferrara inside Ferrara Showman Gallery in New Orleans. Ferrara Showman Gallery As expected, Katrina's death and destruction resulted in a mass exodus of people out of New Orleans. Residents who first left NOLA for Houston and Nashville and Atlanta as refugees decided to stay gone. Go back for what? Rebuild with what money? Return to what job? The city's population declined by more than 50 percent in the two years after the storm. It has yet to fully return to pre-Katrina levels. What could never have been expected was the mass influx of outsiders drawn to New Orleans in the years following by what they saw on TV. Largely young people, creative people, educated people. People interested in service and community. People who might have otherwise started their adult lives in New York or Chicago chose New Orleans. People like Ferrara Showman Gallery partner and 'This City Holds Us' curator, Matthew Weldon Showman. He moved to New Orleans after college in 2011 having only visited once before. 'I am one of those people; I was in high school when Katrina took place, I was thinking about New Orleans through that,' Showman told 'I had traveled, post-Katrina, to visit the city, and it sunk its teeth into me. I graduated university and I just couldn't get something about the New Orleans' arts community out of my mind.' New Orleans does that to people. 'The storm put a spotlight on the city, and people all over the country, the world, started to look to New Orleans and apply whatever their interests were to a way for them to support the city,' he continued. 'If you were an art collector or involved in museums or an artist yourself, you were looking at New Orleans, this huge opportunity was created as a result of the storm.' Or one of the largest art foundations in the world: the Joan Mitchell Foundation. The Joan Mitchell Foundation was established following the death of the great American abstract painter (1925-1992) bearing its name, fulfilling her wish to provide resources and opportunities for visual artists. The Foundation's Emergency Grants program exists for situations just like Katrina in 2005, just like the Altadena fires from early 2025. When artists suffer emergencies and lose homes or studios or incomes, the Foundation makes itself available for emergency grants to help them get by. Gina Phillips was one of the New Orleans artist who was able to secure a Joan Mitchell Foundation Emergency Grant to help get by. Like all those collectors and art world tastemakers who came to New Orleans for Prospect, like Showman, the Mitchell Foundation people were captivated by who and what they found in the city. They wanted more. To do more. 'Around 2010, the Foundation's board and staff wanted to deepen its impact through a residency program and recognized that establishing the program in New Orleans was a way to put down roots in the community while supporting both local and national artists as space and time to create new work are constant needs for artists,' Christa Blatchford, Executive Director, Joan Mitchell Foundation, told 'The residency program aligns beautifully with Mitchell's wish, as stated in her will, that her foundation directly support individual artists in their practices. In 2015, the Joan Mitchell Center opened its residency campus on Bayou Road following two years of off-site pilot programs in the French Quarter. The Center has now hosted more than 340 Artists-in-Residence, around a third of whom have been local artists." The Joan Mitchell Center studio building, New Orleans. © Timothy Hursley New Orleans artists continue to stand up and stand out. The Center currently has an exhibition reflecting on 10 years of the residency program through the work of 40 past Artists-in-Residence, 18 of them local, including Phillips. It wouldn't be there if not for Katrina. No one wanted it this way, but New Orleans' visual arts scene is substantially elevated following Katrina, because of Katrina. 'More mature, more refined, and more opportunity, and it also comes with the recognition of outside people, be they collectors, curators, directors, whoever, we've got the recognition, we've earned that recognition through 20 years as not just some oasis, we're a part of the (broader) dialog,' Ferrara said. 'New Orleans used to be this closed off world, this little island, parochial, and the borders were not porous. Now it's this back-and-forth communication between (New Orleans and) the outside world, there's no more borders. Artists don't have to move to New York to try and make it. They can stay here.' Those who have, through their talent and spirit and innovation and resilience, with help, have created something greater than they inherited. 'Something that I worked on over the last 20 years is for the visual arts to take its rightful place in New Orleans (culture). Food and music were always the two. Well now, it's food, art, and music–a Holy Trinity,' Ferrara adds, referencing a popular term used to describe Cajun and Creole cooking's three primary ingredients: onion, celery and green bell peppers. 'We have taken our rightful place next to food and music.' It gets no higher in New Orleans. More From Forbes Forbes Finding New Orleans' Arty Side Just Off Bourbon Street By Chadd Scott Forbes Prospect.6 Upholds New Orleans As Harbinger For The World, Good And Bad By Chadd Scott Forbes Joan Mitchell And Robert Rauschenberg Centennial Celebrations By Chadd Scott
Newsweek
5 days ago
- Newsweek
Puppy Lives Near Farm, Owner Obsessed With Who She Befriends: 'Happy Tail'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A Staffordshire bull terrier has delighted the internet with her unexpected friendship—not with another dog, but rather, a herd of cows. Dog owner Skye Campbell, 29, loves seeing her 18-month-old puppy Luna making new friends and being so sociable with everyone she meets. But she isn't only excited about meeting new people and other dogs, because as it turns out, she can't get enough of the cows in the neighboring field. Campbell, from Scotland, told Newsweek that the herd of cows have become Luna's "best friends" and she runs up to the fence between the fields at every opportunity she gets. Luna spends so much of her day sitting by the fence, waiting for her cow friends to come out, and then proceeds to lick their noses when they arrive. "She is the happiest, sweetest girl and I always say that she believes every living thing is on this earth just for her," Campbell said. "She wants to be best friends with everything. Anything that moves, she wants to play with. Luna approaching the fence to see the cows in the field. Luna approaching the fence to see the cows in the field. @skyecampbell96 / TikTok "Every time they are near, she will run up and down the fence with happiness, almost like she can't pick which cow to go up to first. She then likes to lick their noses and faces, and they will lick her back," she continued. Seeing the connection between Luna and the cows melts Campbell's heart every time. Luna couldn't be any cuter when she runs up to the fence to say hello to her besties, before running back to her owner with "happy tail wags." "She looks out for them, and they watch out for her. They will lie along the fence in our back garden and wait on her coming out," Campbell said. Videos of Luna and the cows together have been shared on TikTok (@skyecampbell96) and internet users can't get enough. Many of the clips have gone viral, with one showing Luna running back and forth to the fence generating over 914,600 views and 120,100 likes on TikTok at the time of writing. The social media response is beyond anything Campbell expected, but she's so happy to see her sweet pup receiving so much love and appreciation. Campbell told Newsweek: "I am utterly overwhelmed but so blessed. Luna brings so much joy to us, so it's only fair we share that with the world. And the comments from people saying that we made their day means everything to us. "Luna is my soul dog and my best friend, and she truly deserves to be shared with people because she is just the best." Internet users have been full of praise for Luna's adorable friendliness, leading to over 1,000 comments on the viral video so far. One comment reads: "My heart cannot handle the cuteness. That smile... the zoomies... the tail wag!" Another TikTok user wrote: "I think you need to talk to your neighbors about a play date." While another person joked: "Cows are just bigger puppies." Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@ and they could appear on our site.
