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Collecting and Preserving the Stories of Katrina and Rita

The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (CHNM) at George Mason University and the University of New Orleans organized the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank (HDMB) in 2005 in partnership with many national and Gulf Coast area organizations and individuals. HDMB was awarded the Award of Merit for Leadership in History, and is the largest free public archive of Katrina and Rita with over 25,000 items in the collection. Read More.

Online Image Contribution, Hurricane Digital Memory Bank

Piles of storm-damaged mattresses, insulation, and debris line the edge of an empty parking lot, remnants of a destroyed Mattress Warehouse building; a "SEARS" sign is visible on a structure in the background.

I took this picture after returning home from evacuation, over 2 weeks after Hurricane Rita hit here. This used to be Mattress Warehouse in front of Parkdale Mall in Beaumont, Texas.

Citation

“Online Image Contribution, Hurricane Digital Memory Bank,” Hurricane Digital Memory Bank, accessed November 3, 2026, https://hurricanearchive.org/items/show/607.

Online Image Contribution, Hurricane Digital Memory Bank

Citation

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