The Latest: Wreaths laid to remember Katrina victims
By Associated Press
Aug 29, 2015 10:00 AM CDT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The latest in the 10th anniversary commemorations of Hurricane Katrina (all times local):

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11 a.m.

City and congressional leaders laid wreaths at a memorial holding the unclaimed and unidentified bodies from Hurricane Katrina, kicking off a day of events to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the storm hitting Louisiana and Mississippi.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu praised the city's progress and a group of musicians played a mournful funeral song as dignitaries slowly walked the flowers to the monuments holding dozens of bodies.

Katrina ultimately claimed more than 1,800 people and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage. Most of the deaths came in New Orleans and the surrounding area when levees protecting the city failed, leaving 80 percent of the city underwater.

The memorial was created with help from area funeral homes and the city's coroner to house the unclaimed and unidentified bodies.

At the conclusion of the event the band switched to a rousing rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching in" as some people in the audience swayed to the music.

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10:30 a.m.

Church bells are ringing in Mississippi to mark the 10th anniversary of the day when Hurricane Katrina slammed the state's coast.

In Biloxi, clergy and community leaders were to gather for a memorial to Katrina's victims and attend a concert celebrating the post-storm recovery.

Residents across Mississippi and Louisiana are paying homage Saturday to those who died in the storm and to celebrate how far the region has come since the hurricane struck.

Katrina was one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history. The hurricane's force and flooding ultimately caused more than 1,800 deaths and roughly $151 billion in damage across the region. In New Orleans, wide scale failures of the levee system protecting the city left 80 percent of New Orleans under water.