A YEAR AND A HALF AFTER KATRINA: WILL NEW ORLEANS SURVIVE? Eighteen months after Katrina, in March 2007, the Big Easy was anything but. With its population halved, New Orleans nonetheless still led the country in crime. The Lower 9th Ward bore an eerie resemblance to Beirut in the 1980s. Public schools were shuttered or effective police states. The main public hospital was still closed. The city’s underground pipes were leaking more water than people were using. And reputable studies found that the purportedly repaired levees were riddled with defects. Meanwhile, Nature’s first line of defense against future hurricanes -- the wetlands and cypress swamps -- are rapidly dying off. Still, there are hopeful signs as tens of thousands of volunteers descend on New Orleans to lend a hand and residents are trickling back, mindful that they live in one of the truly unique cultural oases of America. (Produced by Mark Cohen)