For most Americans, California evokes coastal images, the sunny beaches of south or the spectacular urban vistas of San Francisco Bay. Yet within California itself, the state's focus is shifting increasingly beyond the narrow strip of land between the coast- line and its first line of mountain ranges.
In the late summer of 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita wrought severe damage along much of the Gulf Coast, stretching from Alabama west - ward to Texas, with perhaps the most devastating consequences for the greater New Orleans area.
Topic:
Demographics, Development, Economics, and Environment