Few realize the Mississippi Gulf Coast was where Katrina hit full force and where the destruction was the worst. Entire towns were reduced to shoulder-high rubble by the winds and the unprecedented 30-foot storm surge. Bay St. Louis was the former home of CNN correspondent Kathleen Koch. From her initial Katrina assignment in Alabama, Koch headed west in the storm's aftermath. The closer she got to her community, the more personal the story became. Old friends asked her to search for loved ones whose bodies would soon be found. She reported from the sites of once-beautiful homes, including her own, stripped to their concrete pads. Time and again, she heard residents' pleas to spread the word about the dire needs on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Rising from Katrina is a story of the kindness of strangers, of minor miracles — and, above all, of how despite bureaucratic snarls and insurance battles a region rolled up its sleeves and rebuilt. It is also the story of a veteran reporter who, struggling to maintain her objectivity amid loss, traveled her own path from devastation to recovery.