It’s like a bad dream.Still. And we’re still waking up three years later.The images are unforgettable: people clinging to life, screaming for help from roof tops. Dead bodies shown on television. Houses swamped under several feet of murky water. Hurricane Katrina made landfall exactly 1,095 days ago today. And the signs of the larger-than-life damage it caused still linger.But what’s more depressing is seeing those leading the recovery failing the city. The joke that is the New Orleans Affordable Homeownership program is the latest example. How New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin could allow such corruption to happen is incomprehensible. It seemed when Hurricane Katrina created hell on earth three years ago that everyone — especially our politicans — vowed not to allow typical Louisiana corruption to stand in the way of New Orleans reclaiming its spot as one of America’s greatest cities.So much for that plan.But now — unfortunately — reality may be dawning on this third anniversary. Perhaps recovery in New Orleans has topped out. Maybe this will be as good as it gets for the city, which is home to about half of its pre-Katrina population. Perhaps it’s time to stop hoping for a complete comeback.There’s no denying the city has never fully recovered from the storm. And Hurricane Gustav — God help us — could set things back even further.But there are accomplishments hidden beneath the slow recovery. The Saints and Hornets have uplifted the city. The food hasn’t changed. Mardi Gras is still the world’s best party.And most importantly, the people are the same. Telling a “stranger” hello and asking he or she how their “mama and them are doing” is the still the norm.New Orleans’ recovery may be in tatters, but its pride is unbroken. It will take a lot more than 13 feet of water to bring down such a dynamic culture.This Board quoted jazz legend Louis Armstrong on the one-year anniversary:”Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?”We still do, Louis.Three years later.—-contact The Daily Reveille’s opinion staff at [email protected]