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Solemn remembrances set for Katrina Anniversary

by Walter Pierce

Gulf Coast ceremonies marking the ninth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina have begun.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Gulf Coast ceremonies marking the ninth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina have begun.

In New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Julian Castro, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, were among those attending a Friday morning wreath-laying ceremony where scores of unidentified Katrina victims are entombed.

Many of the more than 1,800 who died were in the New Orleans area, where levee failures contributed to catastrophic flooding.

The storm did billions of dollars' worth of damage in Louisiana and in Mississippi, where coastal homes were wiped out. Memorials in Mississippi included a series of events at the Ground Zero Museum in Waveland.