NEW ORLEANS (AP).- The room is lit by flashlights, an escape hole chopped in the roof with an ax lying nearby. Steps away, rising floodwaters seep down a levee wall; across the way, a storm diary written in black felt marker on a housing project wall bears testimony to the hellish days after Hurricane Katrina hit. Those items and more from the monster hurricane that battered New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,600 people, are part of a stunning new exhibit opening Oct. 26 at the Louisiana State Museum — “Living with Hurricanes, Katrina & Beyond.” The $7.5 million exhibit at New Orleans’ French Quarter museum recounts tales of the 2005 hurricane, its chaotic aftermath and recovery. It also explores lessons Katrina taught, and the science and technology arising since to counter future storms. “We see this as a game-changer for the