The Tower That Still Stands

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near Buras, Louisiana, with 175-mile-per-hour winds and a storm surge that swallowed entire neighborhoods. In the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, nearly every structure was flattened or swept from its foundation. But on the corner of Caffin Avenue, a small brick church remained standing — water-damaged, battered, but upright — while houses on every side had been reduced to splinters and mud.…