Ten years ago, one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States hit the Gulf Cost. 1,833 lives were lost, over 1 million people were left homeless, and there was over $125 billion in damage. Waters didn't recede for weeks, and a political hurricane of blame was created. How does the Gulf look now?

I was only nine years old when Katrina hit ten years ago, and it didn't really hit me how big of a deal it was. Looking at photos now to write this article blows my mind.

The first picture is of the Superdome right after Hurricane Katrina hit. An estimated 35,000 people took refuge from Katrina here. There were very few generators, no air or running water, but people still called this place home for over a week. Many didn't believe that the New Orleans Saints would be able to come back to play here.

This is the Superdome now. The stadium reopened an astounding one year after Katrina hit. Now renamed the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the building hosts numerous events each year.

This is a picture of Canal Street in New Orleans when Katrina first hit. This was before the flooding, but as you can see, the wind created just as much damage.

This is Canal Street now. If you didn't see the before damage, you wouldn't even know it was affected.

This is the sight of an industrial canal that caused severe flooding in the Lower Ninth Ward. This ward was one of the hardest areas hit by the storm.

In this picture, you can see the wall by the canal has been rebuilt along with some of the homes. This is one of my favorite pictures because in the background you can see a tour group stopping at the wall. Remembering what happened and educating people is important in order to prevent something like this from happening again.

Even though most of these pictures are positive, almost 20 percent of the city hasn't been rebuilt. And that's just in New Orleans. There's still a lot of work to be done. New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf still need our help. There are many ways to help. And if you're interested, here is a good place to start.