The Big Storm

Maybe not a perfect storm. But if the hurricane hits New Orleans dead-on, it looks like it’s going to be a deadly one. The October 2004 issue of National Geographic had a piece on the loss of wetlands around the city and the increased danger of storms that could strike with more force due to the lack of that buffer zone. I remember a picture from that article of a guy standing on Bourbon Street with a 6-meter pole, measuring how high the water would be if a major storm hit the city . . . Looks like that might come true.

There was a 1900 storm in Galveston that hit with similar force and brought similar flood waters. More than 6,000 died in that one. Hopefully people will be smarter about fleeing this time around; they’re certainly better informed than the Texans were 105 years ago. Erik Larson’s Isaac’s Storm is a good book on that old hurricane and its effects.

08/29/2005 | life | Comments

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