This photo gallery I found through MeFi is a must-see if you haven’t seen it already. It’s a play-by-play of how it all went down when Katrina struck. First time I’ve seen pictures like this, of the New Orleans I remember, the same streets I’ve driven. I’ll second what Matt Haughey said:

This slideshow is one of the most amazing accounts I’ve seen of the hurricane, before, during, and after. It contains photos from familiar landmarks and areas of the city and shows pretty clearly why people that stayed behind didn’t think it was going to be that bad, and as it progressed, just how bad it would get. When the story gets to the lines awaiting buses you can feel the helplessness of the people left behind.

Looking at these photos knowing what we know now, I can’t help but remember looking through a 9/11/2001 set of photographer’s photos that told a similar story of a major event: calm followed by surprise and confusion and later untold devastation.

Nothing I’ve seen on TV or online comes close to the complete story this gallery of images gives. It’s worth sitting through every caption and following along. Chilling stuff.