The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast Review
I started reading this book after the BP well blowout in the Gulf. I lived in Gretna (across the river from NO) for four years and went to college in SE Louisiana. I was in Gretna when Camille hit, and remember what it did to Mississippi. I also remember the corruption in government, which continues, as reported daily by the Time Picayune (a real newspaper, which is a vanishing breed). The author does a very good job of showing how the endemic corruption and incompetence of local government contributed to this disaster - using the levees to make profits instead of hold back water, destruction of the wetlands, stupidity and gross negligence in preparing for a storm that everyone knew would come sooner or later.
I disagree with the reviewers who have said that the book focuses too much on the looting and violence. Yes, he covers it, but overall his focus is on the vast majority of decent people and how they were betrayed by the local, state and federal governments. And most of the victims of the violence were African American. I like it that he gave areas other than NO their due, including Mississippi and the other Louisiana parishes and towns that were neglected by the press at the time.
Finally, some reviewers have commented that the author is an outsider "cashing in" on the locals' tragedy. I believe he is a professor at Tulane,and last time I checked it was in NO.
The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast Overview
In the span of five violent hours on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed major Gulf Coast cities and flattened 150 miles of coastline. But it was only the first stage of a shocking triple tragedy. On the heels of one of the three strongest hurricanes ever to make landfall in the United States came the storm-surge flooding, which submerged a half-million homes—followed by the human tragedy of government mismanagement, which proved as cruel as the natural disaster itself.
In The Great Deluge, bestselling author Douglas Brinkley finds the true heroes of this unparalleled catastrophe, and lets the survivors tell their own stories, masterly allowing them to record the nightmare that was Katrina.
The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast Specifications
Bestselling historian Douglas Brinkley, a professor at Tulane University, lived through the destruction of Hurricane Katrina with his fellow New Orleans residents, and now in The Great Deluge he has written one of the first complete accounts of that harrowing week, which sorts out the bewildering events of the storm and its aftermath, telling the stories of unsung heroes and incompetent officials alike. Get a sample of his story--and clarify your own memories--by looking through the detailed timeline he has put together of the preparation, the hurricane, and the response to one of the worst disasters in American history.
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Customer Reviews
Great Story: the Great Deluge - H. Kalbach - Dunwoody, GA USA
This book is well prepared and well written. There is everything to know about hurricane Katrina -all the things you saw in the news and all the things you didn't. A significant documentary.
The Great Deluge - Margaret Sell -
I read this book five years after Katrina following a vacation in New Orleans. I was struck by how Katrina continues to be at the forefront of life there. After reading this detailed and harrowing account of the storm, I fully appreciate why their wounds are still so raw. The writer describes in a profoundly realistic manner the absolute horrors of the catastrophe, and the missed opportunites at every turn by local, state and federal leaders to if not avoid but to mitigate the tragedy. He also hails the folk who risked their lives to save their neighbors with a battlefield bravery that brought tears to my eyes. What a fabulous writer he is, and what a blessing to us that as one of New Orleans sons he bore witness to this event.
The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley - Sue in Mississippi - Petal,, Ms., US
I ordered this book because I survived Hurricane Katrina and I know first hand what it was like. This book just puts you there. It mostly talks about what happened in New Orleans....I was in Mississippi. I don't especially agree with the author's political views, but he did an excellent job in telling what it was like before, during, and after the most devastating event of my (and thousands of others)life.
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