NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Today is the 11th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a storm that killed more than 1,800 people in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. Politicians, musicians and members of the community came together this morning to remember those lost.

“They are dead, but they are alive in us. They are nameless, but their memory is engraved in our hearts, on this, the 11th anniversary of the tragic disaster, that was, Hurricane Katrina. We pay tribute to our brothers and sisters who lie here in repose,” said Norman Robinson, the master of ceremonies for Monday’s wreath-laying.

“Though we do not know them, we know that you know them, you know all about them. We know that there is a bond between us and them,” said the Rev. Robert Jackson.

Local leaders gathered at the memorial on Canal Street. The program started exactly at 8:29 Monday morning, honoring those killed. The mayor laid wreaths there, where nearly 100 unclaimed and unidentified victims are buried.

“They may be unnamed and unclaimed but they’re not forgotten. Just when you think it’s the darkest hour, you’ll find the depths of humanity reaching up and helping us get to a place we could not get on our own. Natural disasters, man-made disasters take a life and many people do what is necessary: step up to the plate and give life, by doing whatever you can to make sure people have what they need. That’s what we require of each other in good times and in bad,” said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

City council members and Orleans Parish Coroner Jeffery Rouse also spoke at Monday’s service. This wreath laying ceremony has become a tradition that will be held every year on August 29th at the Hurricane Katrina memorial in Mid-City.