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History Repeats Itself
"New Orleans has now been flooded by hurricanes six times over the past century; in 1915, 1940, 1947, 1965, 1969 and 2005. It must be our goal that it not be allowed to happen again."
--Independent Levee Investigation Team, July 31, 2006
On September 9, 1965 Hurricane Betsy, a Category 3 storm, came ashore 50 miles east of New Orleans. Damage and flooding covered 4,800 square miles, killed 81 people, and caused about 250,000 to be evacuated.
Betsy became the country's first hurricane to do more than $1 billion in damage. In October 1965, Congress, in the 1965 Flood Control Act, authorized the Lake Ponchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project to protect New
Orleans and surrounding parishes from a Category 3 storm. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was charged with building the Greater New Orleans Hurricane Protection System (GNO HPS).
On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina, a Category 3 storm, came ashore about 50 miles east of New Orleans. About 1,300 people died and damage is estimated in the $100-200 billion range.
"Katrina was a largely man-made catastrophe triggered by a moderately fast Category 3 hurricane that missed New Orleans. Citizens were denied the level of protection mandated by Congress in the 1965 Flood Control Act."
--"Team Louisiana" Final Report, February 12, 2007
This page has a collection of links about Hurricane Katrina. The tragedy is far from over.
Films
When The Levees Broke: Spike Lee's 4-part documentary on the aftermath of Katrina. If you haven't already, please see this film.
New Orleans Music in Exile A film about the impact of Katrina on different artists from New Orleans. On DVD 8/7/07.
Books
The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley
Breach of Faith by Jed Horne
Come Hell or High Water by Michael Dyson
1 Dead In Attic by Chris Rose
Rising Tide by John Barry - the story of the Mississippi flood of 1927. Describes the dynamiting of the levees below New Orleans and flooding of St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes to save the city. By the time the levees were blown the city was out of danger.
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News and Articles
NOLA.com: The web site of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. The day-to-day story of the recovery.
Flooding: An animated presentation from NOLA.com showing hour-by-hour flooding of New Orleans.
Disappearing Wetlands: Another animated presentation from NOLA.com showing how the wetlands that protect New Orleans from hurricanes have been destroyed over time.
Gambit Weekly: "Because New Orleans needs an alternative."
The New Orleans Levee: "We don't hold anything back."
The New Yorker: A collection of excellent articles about Katrina published in The New Yorker. Includes a great blog, "New Orleans Journal", by Dan Baum.
Blogs
Some ground-level views from the blogosphere.
Moldy City
Blageur
da po' blog
Flood and Loathing
The Third Battle of New Orleans
Reports and Programs
The somewhat clinical, yet gory details of what happened and why.
Independent Levee Investigation Team
Team Louisiana
US Army Corps of Engineers
Now what? Well ...
The Road Home Program
Louisiana Recovery Authority
Unified New Orleans Plan
Voluntourism
Feel like going down to lend a hand and enjoy a bowl of gumbo while you're there? There's still plenty to do.
ACORN: Volunteer in New Orleans
Habitat Musicians' Village
Craig's List: Volunteer in New Orleans
Volunteer New Orleans
T-Shirts
Want to show some support with America's favorite message apparel? Here are a couple of good ones:
ReNew Orleans
Make Levees Not War
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