Remembering Hurricane Katrina

When Hurricane Katrina hit landfall on August 29, 2005 devastating homes and families along the Gulf Coast, REALTORS® sprang into action. Five years later, the work of rebuilding lives and communities continues—and REALTORS® are making a difference.

Back to New Orleans

A year after Hurricane Katrina, NAR fulfilled its promise to hold its 2006 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in New Orleans. In November 2006, more than 24,000 REALTORS® and guests marched into the Crescent City bringing with them more than $40 million in tourism revenue. And thousands of REALTORS® took time away from sessions and meetings to roll up their sleeves and frame houses, clean parks, sort books at the public library.

In November, REALTORS® from around the world will return to New Orleans for the 2010 REALTORS® Conference and Expo. Once again, in addition to attending business-related sessions and meetings, REALTORS® are invited to roll up their sleeves and participate in a variety of rebuilding and renovation efforts in residential areas still affected by Katrina. Activities include:

  • Building a Habitat for Humanity home
  • Planting trees, pruning and mulching in City Park
  • Painting classrooms at a local school
  • Sort donated products at a local food bank

Learn more >

REALTORS® Reach Out

Within hours of Katrina hitting land, REALTORS® had donated nearly $500,000 to the REALTORS® Relief Foundation to help victims in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Two weeks later, the amount surpassed $3 million thanks to REALTORS® donating portions of their commissions and organizing fundraising drives.

Since its inception in 2001, following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the REALTORS® Relief Foundation has distributed over $21 million to victims of all kinds of disasters. Learn more >