On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in southeast Louisiana, breaching levees and spurring floods that devastated New Orleans.

The Associated Press was one of the only national media organizations to have numerous staff members deployed across the city ready to provide coverage the day that Katrina made landfall.

Those same AP photographers, reporters and video-journalists came together to recall their experiences covering the aftermath.

"Everything that we were going through, which could be very painful at times, we were witnessing abject misery all around us", said longtime reporter Kevin Mcgill.

Chevel Johnson's house was flooded up to the roof line but continued to work, living out of a coworker's house.

"You were the story and you couldn't go home that evening to relax", said AP Technology Manager Howard Gros.

Some wanted to clear some mistruths up about how residents were portrayed during a time of crisis.

"It was just a lot of desperate people trying to survive" said Brett Martel who covered the storm and the days that followed. "No matter how bad it looks sometimes you really shouldn't lose hope" he added.

Hurricane Katrina was New Orleans' lowest point until a little over a year later on September 25th, 2006 when the Saints were finally able to play a game in their home stadium, their beloved Superdome, which spurred a moment of unity for the city that the people here will never forget.

AP Video by Stephen Smith and Sophie Bates