This story, headlined "As city drowns in chaos, death gets little notice," was originally published Sept. 1, 2005. It is being republished for the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina as part of The Times-Picayune's Pulitzer-winning coverage.

At 91, Booker Harris ended his days propped on a lawn chair, covered by a yellow quilt and abandoned, dead, in front of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

Mr. Harris died in the back of a Ryder panel truck Wednesday afternoon, as he and his 93-year-old wife, Allie, were evacuated from eastern New Orleans. The truck's driver deposited Mrs. Harris and her husband's body on the Convention Center Boulevard neutral ground.

And there it remained.

With 3,000 or more evacuees stranded at the Convention Center — and with no apparent plan to deal with

See Full Page