Tales of Katrina told through La. museum exhibit

[October 25, 2010]  NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A dramatic exhibit called "Living with Hurricanes, Katrina & Beyond" opens on Oct. 26 at the Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans.

The exhibition recounts what happened before, during and after the epic 2005 hurricane that claimed more than 1,600 lives in its rampage across New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The $7.5 million exhibit explains how levees in New Orleans failed. It recounts survivors' stories and explains technology that arose since Katrina to counter future storms.

Museum director Sam Rykels says he came up with the show's idea days after Katrina hit. Items in the exhibit include an ax used by a woman to escape her attic as floodwaters rose and a wrecked baby grand piano from the flooded home of musician Fats Domino.

[Associated Press; By MARY FOSTER]

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