New Orleans Hurricanes from the Start

by David Bastian, Nicholas J. Meis

Overview

An encyclopedic history of the Crescent City’s most violent storms, with analysis, predictions, and suggestions for the future protections.
 
According to the US Army Corps of Engineers, the city of New Orleans is twice as likely to be struck by a hurricane as any other metropolitan area bordering the Gulf of Mexico. In this work, authors David F. Bastian and Nicholas J. Meis explore the historical records of storms that have affected the region in and around south Louisiana since the first colonizers set foot on the Mississippi delta in the late seventeenth century. Using letters, personal diaries, official records, newspaper articles, and expert analyses, Bastian and Meis delve into the effects of the monstrous storms that have irreparably impacted south Louisiana, including what went awry during Katrina in 2005. Also examined is the evolution of New Orleans's protection systems as well as what the city can do to avoid another catastrophe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455619405
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	12/02/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	607,967
File size:	9 MB

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.

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