Katrina: One Year On

It's been a year since Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Southern Gulf Coast of the United States. President Bush is visiting to talk up how his government is doing all it can with the usual outdoor folksy speech and a choreographed walkabout.

There's debate as to how much has changed, and of the parts that have, whether it's for the better. The racial mix in the city has shifted- a year ago, around two-thirds of its 485,000 population was black. Now its less than half the number, and less than half black. A growing Hispanic population are filling manual jobs.

While this might not seem important, the impact on the future of the city's culture, mainly jazz and blues, is yet to be truly felt. This was touchingly illustrated in the recent BBC Four documentary 'Saving Jazz' that followed legendary photographer Herman Leonard around the city trying to salvage some of his shots of legends including Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald.

He pointed out that one rich source of the city's future music was the school marching band, and that these had dropped from over 200 to around 20 today.

But there are continuing issues with the quantity and quality of housing and basic services such as electricity. It's clear that even as a self-proclaimed 'Southern President', the action to rebuild the city and the surrounding area is still much too little, much too late.