New Orleans Hurricanes from the Start

by David Bastian, Nicholas Meis

Overview

The Crescent City's deadliest storms, compiled in one volume.

From its founding, Louisiana and New Orleans have stood against the onslaught of nature's savagery. The authors accessed diaries, letters, and official records to outline the devastation that hurricanes have wrought on the beloved Big Easy. The documents initiate discussion about the efforts to prevent flooding and provide a foundation for the authors' predictions about future hurricanes. In particular, their comments on what went wrong during Katrina are poignant and bold.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455619399
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	05/15/2014
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

David F. Bastian is a former US Department of State appointee and a retiree from the US Army Corps of Engineers. Following Hurricane Katrina, Bastian served as a consultant to the New Orleans rebuilding effort. In addition to having published more than fifty articles and technical papers involving engineering, he is also an author of texts about the Civil War. Bastian lives in Annapolis, Maryland.


Nicholas J. Meis is a technical writer for the US Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans. He is part of the Periodic Inspection Program that monitors the condition of levees and other structures protecting Louisiana's gulf coast. Meis joined the Corps just a few months after Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, and he witnessed the historic reconstruction firsthand. He lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

Chapter 1 Early Colonial Period (1711-40) 19

Chapter 2 From the Revolution to the Louisiana Purchase (1772-1811) 25

Chapter 3 The Great Storm of 1812 33

Chapter 4 1819-46 40

Chapter 5 The Flood without a Storm-Raging Mississippi (1849-55) 46

Chapter 6 Season of Destruction-Last Island (1856) 51

Chapter 7 Nature Reflects the Civil War (1860-69) 56

Chapter 8 Another Active Season (1871) 63

Chapter 9 Looking Towards Century's End (1877-88) 70

Chapter 10 Assault on Cheniere Caminada (1893) 78

Chapter 11 New Century, New Perspectives (1897-1909) 85

Chapter 12 Storm Damage and Profiteering (1915) 92

Chapter 13 Storm-Protection Concepts Mature (1916-43) 100

Chapter 14 Protection System Failure-the City Drowns (1947-48) 106

Chapter 15 Named Storms (1956-64) 115

Chapter 16 Betsy Teaches New Lessons (1965) 119

Chapter 17 Camiile and False Hope (1969) 122

Chapter 18 Classifications for the Public-the Saffir-Simpson Scale (1971-2002) 125

Chapter 19 Katrina and Rita-Sisters of Destruction (2005) 140

Chapter 20 Gustav and Ike-Brothers Grimm (2008) 150

Chapter 21 What Went Wrong 152

Chapter 22 Full System Test (2012) 161

Notes 163

Bibliography 177

Index 181