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The Great Deluge
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.
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.
768 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2006
328 people are currently reading
5224 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Brinkley
112 books402 followersDouglas Brinkley is a professor of history at Rice University and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. The Chicago Tribune has dubbed him “America’s new past master.” His most recent books are The Quiet World, The Wilderness Warrior, and The Great Deluge. Six of his books have been selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. He lives in Texas with his wife and three children.
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March 23, 2008
I think parts of this book should be assigned to social studies students, because it so clearly shows the significance of electing competent and talented officials to the offices of government. Rarely have the costs of having the wrong people in power been so starkly illustrated: as I think we all agree, Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster, but its horrific aftermath in New Orleans was the result of mindblowing incompetence at nearly every level of government, from the city right up through the Feds. Reading the first few chapters -- definitely the best part of this overly long book -- would help students to understand the true purpose and challenges of government. Brinkley pulls no punches here, and makes clear from the outset that he's not playing the blame game; that is, it's not a game, his blaming is serious business, and Brinkley points furious accusatory fingers at nearly every official and agency charged with preventing the nightmare in post-Katrina New Orleans.
In addition to illustrating the functions and process of government, this book would also be a good thing for young people to read because it could challenge them to think about what kind of adults they want to become. I know that sounds pretty corny, but it's true. There are billions of cliches about how one's mettle is truly tested in times of great crisis, and much of what makes Katrina stories so fascinating is evidence of that point. People's behavior after the storm ranged the gamut from intense moral depravity, to pathetic blundering, to incredible heroism. While reading this book, I broke down in tears probably about twenty times, usually at some sickening travesty of government, but a few times at people's inspiring and selfless actions. Again, not to sound like an Oprah guest or anything, but reading this made me think about what kind of person I want to be, and challenged me to question whether I'll be able to rise to the occasion when certain demands are made. I think this is good stuff to think about once in awhile.
This book had a lot of information in it, and I'm impressed that Brinkley was able to collect and publish it so quickly (this came out in 2006). That said, I kind of wish I'd done some research first to look for another Katrina book I might've liked more. For one thing, this book was 624 pages long, and by the time I was done, I felt like I'd just spent five days at the Superdome, waiting for some FEMA buses that just didn't arrive. To be sure, there was a lot of reporting to do on the many shocking events that occurred, and normally I like long books, so I didn't think going in that this would be a problem.... but it kind of was. Douglas Brinkley -- and I say this with due respect, because his work is obviously an achievement, and I learned a lot from it --is no Robert Caro. That is to say, he's not, in my humble opinion, a terrific writer. Obviously he had to get this baby out as quickly as possible, so its unlovely prose can't fairly be faulted much, but it did make the reading feel pretty excruciating after awhile. For example, in describing the trauma symptoms of Mississippi Gulf Coast hurricane victims, Brinkley writes, "They were frayed zombies, Katrina survivors, in search of a hug" (p. 163).... In search of a hug? Huh? Yikes. There were many non sequiturs and somewhat bizarre comparisons and references scattered throughout. Nothing offensive, just.... not great. And for a book this long, well, it really helps if the writing's great. Maybe if I weren't also reading The Power Broker this wouldn't have bothered me so much but... well, it was long.
But yeah, again, this book is an achievement. It taught me a lot I didn't know about Katrina, and I wasn't reading it for the prose. That said, I also wasn't reading it to learn what Richard Ford, Wynton Marsalis, or Jimmy Buffett happened to think about the destruction of a city to which they had one or another personal connection. I became very frustrated by what felt like excessive anecdotes from figures only tangentially linked to the disaster, and by the folksiness Brinkley imparted to his descriptions of various involved actors. Again, though, this is all fine; what was not fine, however, was the unconscionable omission of any MAP OF NEW ORLEANS. This failure is analogous to Ray Nagin's decision to leave all the school buses parked in a flood zone, and to the city's failure to coordinate with Amtrak so that five "ghost trains" left the bowl Sunday evening, empty of people. How could Brinkley have provided such a helpful timeline of events between August 27 and September 3, but not have managed to put even ONE simple map showing the relative location of the various New Orleans neighborhoods he was discussing? That was actually my biggest problem with this book. Yeah, I know it sounds petty, and I should just be able to find a good map online, but actually, I can't. There's the Time magazine map that shows the flooding, and of course there's Google Maps, but I want one inside the book, designed to help me understand exactly what he's talking about, so I can see where the Lower Ninth Ward is, and where the 17th Street Canal was breached, and how far the Superdome is from the Convention Center, and just things like that I need to know because I, like FEMA, was totally clueless about the geography of New Orleans going into this. I kept flipping through looking for the missing map, like a stranded family on a roof searching the sky for helicopters, up until I finished the book, unable to believe that it had been left out. So thank God for the Internet, but still: a book like this should be self-contained, and it didn't make sense without a map. The pictures were great, which only made its maplessness more incomprehensible to me.
Okay, so but my tendency is to complain even more about something when I like it. I think this is a pretty good book. If it had had a map, I would've given it four stars. Every American should read at least parts of this book, or a similar one. Although I followed the print media coverage at the time, the most shocking content related here was unknown to me. As noted previously, this book made me break down in tears on the train repeatedly. Due to incompetence and an unforgivable lack of urgency and coordination, thousands of mostly poor, mostly black Americans were left to suffer, and even die, unnecessarily. Racism obviously played a large role in what happened (the story of the Gretna Bridge Incident, recounted here, is one particularly shameful episode), but it is a just one part of this gruesome story. What I did not really understand at the time is that government agencies did not only fail through their inaction, but in fact ACTIVELY exacerbated the situation through actions that actually appear malevolent and designed to do harm. Decades of poor policy and neglect made New Orleans's environment and infrastructure such that the breached levees and resulting chaos were inevitable, and nobody in power ever bothered to establish a real disaster plan. Once the hurricane came, political leaders engaged in infighting, grandstanding, and lack of resolve in their mishandling of the emergency. Pathological bureaucracy meant that first responders were forcibly turned away by agencies PURPOSELY KEEPING AID OUT of the city. When the federal government finally began to react, like a brontosaurus just noticing a blow to the tail struck three days earlier, FEMA sent firefighters to Atlanta for sexual harassment training, before they could go to New Orleans to evacuate people whose lives were in danger. Families were separated, with children and infants being taken from their mothers willy nilly, and survivors were ordered around at gunpoint by people who did not seem to be following much of a plan. Many of the frail and elderly died because some people who were supposed to be doing their jobs didn't do them; of course, many were saved because others did rise heroically to the occasion. Brinkley documents that, doing a pretty good job of walking the line between despair and hope at humanity's capacity for good and bad, which is why I think this would be a good book for high school kids. Also, it's got a lot of dead bodies and violence and looting and excitement in it, and teenagers like that kind of thing, don't they?
I wish this country'd get its act together, that's for sure. At the time that this happened, I felt like Katrina had turned over a rock and exposed the racialized poverty endemic in this often ignored America I was glad at the time was finally making the news. I remember being excited that newscasters were actually getting angry about racial and economic injustice. The real outrage, I thought, was not just the federal government's slow response to the hurricane, as it was that so many New Orleanians were unable to evacuate even if they wanted to, because they were so poor. Brinkley's perspective here was different than mine. He took a very nonpartisan, even apolitical approach that looked specifically at what went wrong in this situation, and whose responsibility the snafus were. I find it totally incomprehensible that Ray Nagin was reelected after this. My biggest impression at the end of this book was of the meaning of responsibility. Brinkley goes very hard on a lot of these officials, which I appreciated. Not only public officials, but all of us, in whatever capacity, need to perform above and beyond the call of duty at times of crisis, and the more responsibility we have, the greater our abilities must be. When high school civics students read this book, I want them to think, "Well, I thought I wanted to be mayor/governor/president, but now that I think about it, I'd probably be better suited as a soap opera star or professional soccer player." If more kids would think about what public service actually means, maybe tragedies like the aftermath of Katrina could be averted in the future.
In addition to illustrating the functions and process of government, this book would also be a good thing for young people to read because it could challenge them to think about what kind of adults they want to become. I know that sounds pretty corny, but it's true. There are billions of cliches about how one's mettle is truly tested in times of great crisis, and much of what makes Katrina stories so fascinating is evidence of that point. People's behavior after the storm ranged the gamut from intense moral depravity, to pathetic blundering, to incredible heroism. While reading this book, I broke down in tears probably about twenty times, usually at some sickening travesty of government, but a few times at people's inspiring and selfless actions. Again, not to sound like an Oprah guest or anything, but reading this made me think about what kind of person I want to be, and challenged me to question whether I'll be able to rise to the occasion when certain demands are made. I think this is good stuff to think about once in awhile.
This book had a lot of information in it, and I'm impressed that Brinkley was able to collect and publish it so quickly (this came out in 2006). That said, I kind of wish I'd done some research first to look for another Katrina book I might've liked more. For one thing, this book was 624 pages long, and by the time I was done, I felt like I'd just spent five days at the Superdome, waiting for some FEMA buses that just didn't arrive. To be sure, there was a lot of reporting to do on the many shocking events that occurred, and normally I like long books, so I didn't think going in that this would be a problem.... but it kind of was. Douglas Brinkley -- and I say this with due respect, because his work is obviously an achievement, and I learned a lot from it --is no Robert Caro. That is to say, he's not, in my humble opinion, a terrific writer. Obviously he had to get this baby out as quickly as possible, so its unlovely prose can't fairly be faulted much, but it did make the reading feel pretty excruciating after awhile. For example, in describing the trauma symptoms of Mississippi Gulf Coast hurricane victims, Brinkley writes, "They were frayed zombies, Katrina survivors, in search of a hug" (p. 163).... In search of a hug? Huh? Yikes. There were many non sequiturs and somewhat bizarre comparisons and references scattered throughout. Nothing offensive, just.... not great. And for a book this long, well, it really helps if the writing's great. Maybe if I weren't also reading The Power Broker this wouldn't have bothered me so much but... well, it was long.
But yeah, again, this book is an achievement. It taught me a lot I didn't know about Katrina, and I wasn't reading it for the prose. That said, I also wasn't reading it to learn what Richard Ford, Wynton Marsalis, or Jimmy Buffett happened to think about the destruction of a city to which they had one or another personal connection. I became very frustrated by what felt like excessive anecdotes from figures only tangentially linked to the disaster, and by the folksiness Brinkley imparted to his descriptions of various involved actors. Again, though, this is all fine; what was not fine, however, was the unconscionable omission of any MAP OF NEW ORLEANS. This failure is analogous to Ray Nagin's decision to leave all the school buses parked in a flood zone, and to the city's failure to coordinate with Amtrak so that five "ghost trains" left the bowl Sunday evening, empty of people. How could Brinkley have provided such a helpful timeline of events between August 27 and September 3, but not have managed to put even ONE simple map showing the relative location of the various New Orleans neighborhoods he was discussing? That was actually my biggest problem with this book. Yeah, I know it sounds petty, and I should just be able to find a good map online, but actually, I can't. There's the Time magazine map that shows the flooding, and of course there's Google Maps, but I want one inside the book, designed to help me understand exactly what he's talking about, so I can see where the Lower Ninth Ward is, and where the 17th Street Canal was breached, and how far the Superdome is from the Convention Center, and just things like that I need to know because I, like FEMA, was totally clueless about the geography of New Orleans going into this. I kept flipping through looking for the missing map, like a stranded family on a roof searching the sky for helicopters, up until I finished the book, unable to believe that it had been left out. So thank God for the Internet, but still: a book like this should be self-contained, and it didn't make sense without a map. The pictures were great, which only made its maplessness more incomprehensible to me.
Okay, so but my tendency is to complain even more about something when I like it. I think this is a pretty good book. If it had had a map, I would've given it four stars. Every American should read at least parts of this book, or a similar one. Although I followed the print media coverage at the time, the most shocking content related here was unknown to me. As noted previously, this book made me break down in tears on the train repeatedly. Due to incompetence and an unforgivable lack of urgency and coordination, thousands of mostly poor, mostly black Americans were left to suffer, and even die, unnecessarily. Racism obviously played a large role in what happened (the story of the Gretna Bridge Incident, recounted here, is one particularly shameful episode), but it is a just one part of this gruesome story. What I did not really understand at the time is that government agencies did not only fail through their inaction, but in fact ACTIVELY exacerbated the situation through actions that actually appear malevolent and designed to do harm. Decades of poor policy and neglect made New Orleans's environment and infrastructure such that the breached levees and resulting chaos were inevitable, and nobody in power ever bothered to establish a real disaster plan. Once the hurricane came, political leaders engaged in infighting, grandstanding, and lack of resolve in their mishandling of the emergency. Pathological bureaucracy meant that first responders were forcibly turned away by agencies PURPOSELY KEEPING AID OUT of the city. When the federal government finally began to react, like a brontosaurus just noticing a blow to the tail struck three days earlier, FEMA sent firefighters to Atlanta for sexual harassment training, before they could go to New Orleans to evacuate people whose lives were in danger. Families were separated, with children and infants being taken from their mothers willy nilly, and survivors were ordered around at gunpoint by people who did not seem to be following much of a plan. Many of the frail and elderly died because some people who were supposed to be doing their jobs didn't do them; of course, many were saved because others did rise heroically to the occasion. Brinkley documents that, doing a pretty good job of walking the line between despair and hope at humanity's capacity for good and bad, which is why I think this would be a good book for high school kids. Also, it's got a lot of dead bodies and violence and looting and excitement in it, and teenagers like that kind of thing, don't they?
I wish this country'd get its act together, that's for sure. At the time that this happened, I felt like Katrina had turned over a rock and exposed the racialized poverty endemic in this often ignored America I was glad at the time was finally making the news. I remember being excited that newscasters were actually getting angry about racial and economic injustice. The real outrage, I thought, was not just the federal government's slow response to the hurricane, as it was that so many New Orleanians were unable to evacuate even if they wanted to, because they were so poor. Brinkley's perspective here was different than mine. He took a very nonpartisan, even apolitical approach that looked specifically at what went wrong in this situation, and whose responsibility the snafus were. I find it totally incomprehensible that Ray Nagin was reelected after this. My biggest impression at the end of this book was of the meaning of responsibility. Brinkley goes very hard on a lot of these officials, which I appreciated. Not only public officials, but all of us, in whatever capacity, need to perform above and beyond the call of duty at times of crisis, and the more responsibility we have, the greater our abilities must be. When high school civics students read this book, I want them to think, "Well, I thought I wanted to be mayor/governor/president, but now that I think about it, I'd probably be better suited as a soap opera star or professional soccer player." If more kids would think about what public service actually means, maybe tragedies like the aftermath of Katrina could be averted in the future.
June 21, 2010
*WARNING! A COMPLETELY REASONABLE AMOUNT OF CURSE WORDS, CONSIDERING THE TOPIC, ARE CONTAINED IN THE FOLLOWING REVIEW*
I had a vague understanding of what went down in New Orleans after Katrina hit, but after finishing this powerhouse history lesson by Brinkley, I realize I didn't know shit. I mean, what the fuck. Every other page filled me with disbelief. I can't even begin to establish all of the factors that led to all the destruction, mismanagement, neglect, and chaos. Factors such as the lack of preservation of Louisiana's wetlands, which used to serve as a natural buffer for hurricanes coming off the Gulf, but have all since disappeared due to their lucrative natural resources (think natural gas, oil companies, etc). Ya know what, I can't even list the stuff. It's just too much. Brinkley has done a great service to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast to present this astonishing piece of American history. As angry and disgusted as Brinkley can come off at times (understandably), he gives equal parts of the narrative over to the first responders and citizen heroes of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. Brinkley's beef is clearly with Mayor Nagin, Gov. Blanco, Michael Brown and Michael Chertoff of FEMA, some of the NOPD, and the Bush Administration. Basically, everyone who should have done something, were trusted to do something, and failed. I look forward to when Brinkley to turns his angry tongue on BP.
Please, please, don't be scared of this book. I know it's long and you might be tempted to label it as 'depressing' or maybe you've had enough of Hurricane Katrina, but The Great Deluge highlights a crucial moment in American history, and five years later, it's still worth examining. Also, God, if you can hear me, Please leave the Gulf Coast alone. We get it. You're not a fan. Now just knock it off. You know who has had it easy for a long time? Vermont. Nothing bad ever happens to Vermont. Go pick on them.
Quotes:
"The fact that the federal response could have been better, starting at the moment the hurricane struck, begs the questions: Under what circumstances could it have been better? If the victims were white? If they were rich? If they had not been members of a voting bloc that the Republican Party had a motive to disperse? The one that rings truest, though, is that cronyism riddled FEMA and its contractors in the Bush administration, making incompetence and not racism the key to the response." pg. 618
"Too much bureaucracy can be a big, big problem in a catastrophe." pg. 578,
Lt. Jimmy Duckworth of the Coast Guard
"A political lesson had been learned [in 2004:], one that unfortunately wouldn't help the Gulf South in 2005: it's best to have a natural disaster in the heat of campaign season, when your state [Florida:] is up for grabs during a presidential election year...'Partisan politics were certainly in the air during the busy 2004 hurricane season.'" pg. 249
I had a vague understanding of what went down in New Orleans after Katrina hit, but after finishing this powerhouse history lesson by Brinkley, I realize I didn't know shit. I mean, what the fuck. Every other page filled me with disbelief. I can't even begin to establish all of the factors that led to all the destruction, mismanagement, neglect, and chaos. Factors such as the lack of preservation of Louisiana's wetlands, which used to serve as a natural buffer for hurricanes coming off the Gulf, but have all since disappeared due to their lucrative natural resources (think natural gas, oil companies, etc). Ya know what, I can't even list the stuff. It's just too much. Brinkley has done a great service to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast to present this astonishing piece of American history. As angry and disgusted as Brinkley can come off at times (understandably), he gives equal parts of the narrative over to the first responders and citizen heroes of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. Brinkley's beef is clearly with Mayor Nagin, Gov. Blanco, Michael Brown and Michael Chertoff of FEMA, some of the NOPD, and the Bush Administration. Basically, everyone who should have done something, were trusted to do something, and failed. I look forward to when Brinkley to turns his angry tongue on BP.
Please, please, don't be scared of this book. I know it's long and you might be tempted to label it as 'depressing' or maybe you've had enough of Hurricane Katrina, but The Great Deluge highlights a crucial moment in American history, and five years later, it's still worth examining. Also, God, if you can hear me, Please leave the Gulf Coast alone. We get it. You're not a fan. Now just knock it off. You know who has had it easy for a long time? Vermont. Nothing bad ever happens to Vermont. Go pick on them.
Quotes:
"The fact that the federal response could have been better, starting at the moment the hurricane struck, begs the questions: Under what circumstances could it have been better? If the victims were white? If they were rich? If they had not been members of a voting bloc that the Republican Party had a motive to disperse? The one that rings truest, though, is that cronyism riddled FEMA and its contractors in the Bush administration, making incompetence and not racism the key to the response." pg. 618
"Too much bureaucracy can be a big, big problem in a catastrophe." pg. 578,
Lt. Jimmy Duckworth of the Coast Guard
"A political lesson had been learned [in 2004:], one that unfortunately wouldn't help the Gulf South in 2005: it's best to have a natural disaster in the heat of campaign season, when your state [Florida:] is up for grabs during a presidential election year...'Partisan politics were certainly in the air during the busy 2004 hurricane season.'" pg. 249
May 22, 2017
An outstanding review of the Katrina disaster. Plenty of blame to spread around: Governor Blanco, Mayor Nagin, the NOPD. Too much blame perhaps on FEMA director Brown, probably because of the "Helluva job, Brownie" comment made by President Bush, who deserves a lot of blame. One guy that got off too easy was Michael Chertoff, the head of Homeland Security. Many don't realize FEMA was under his control. Race enters the picture, as does poverty. Remember when we thought finally America would fight poverty? Now we are going in the opposite direction again.
And here's a personal comment. The Republican party thrives on government failure. So even if a Republican fails, it helps other anti-government Republicans. A winning plan.
One way we are all responsible is our failure to fight climate change and environmental degradation. Folks, the worst is yet to come.
And here's a personal comment. The Republican party thrives on government failure. So even if a Republican fails, it helps other anti-government Republicans. A winning plan.
One way we are all responsible is our failure to fight climate change and environmental degradation. Folks, the worst is yet to come.
March 31, 2020
Douglas Brinkley holds nothing back in this fabulous account of what really happened in New Orleans during Katrina. We all saw the TV footage, which was heartbreaking. In this book you hear the victims full stories and they will break your heart all over again. Brinkley also rips into the ineptitude of those who should have been helping. Starting with Mayor, hiding on the 27th floor of a hotel, all the way up to Homeland Security and the President, who dawdled and twiddled their thumbs while New Orleans drowned.
The book, a tomb at 768 pages, also tells you the stories of the every day hero-the people that stepped up when they did not have to. The band of wealthy who banded together and became "The Cajun Navy". These folks took their boats into the areas no one else would go, and rescued hundreds of people who may have died without their effort.
This was a really hard book to finish at this point in life-too much of it reminded me of the current situation with this pandemic and the ineptitude of one of the worlds super powers to organize and help it's people.
The book, a tomb at 768 pages, also tells you the stories of the every day hero-the people that stepped up when they did not have to. The band of wealthy who banded together and became "The Cajun Navy". These folks took their boats into the areas no one else would go, and rescued hundreds of people who may have died without their effort.
This was a really hard book to finish at this point in life-too much of it reminded me of the current situation with this pandemic and the ineptitude of one of the worlds super powers to organize and help it's people.
February 2, 2009
Apparently the only people able to get their heads out of their asses were the United States Coast Guard, the 'Cajun Navy', and Lt. Gen. Russel Honore. Here's a chilling quote from a reporter and former swift boat pilot who helped out:
"The water didn't remind me of Vietnam," he said. "The dying did. Knowing people were dying and hearing stories and talking to people who were in the process of dying, who were going to die as soon as we hung up. That reminded me a lot of Vietnam. When the people came out with me from our studio to the flooded cars, they were hysterical or shocked. I felt extremely calm. Vietnam. When the windows were blowing out (and I'm afraid of heights if you put me on a ladder), I wasn't afraid. I was calm. Vietnam. I think it was thirteen months of combat, and if you lose control, if you get emotional or you get afraid or too brave or just don't stay calm and think and be relaxed, you're going to die. So Vietnam was a gigantic plus. It comes back to the fact that I have been to a bad place. I had that bad place to go back to, that helped me remain calm enough to get the job done...I had seen the birds disappear before."
"The water didn't remind me of Vietnam," he said. "The dying did. Knowing people were dying and hearing stories and talking to people who were in the process of dying, who were going to die as soon as we hung up. That reminded me a lot of Vietnam. When the people came out with me from our studio to the flooded cars, they were hysterical or shocked. I felt extremely calm. Vietnam. When the windows were blowing out (and I'm afraid of heights if you put me on a ladder), I wasn't afraid. I was calm. Vietnam. I think it was thirteen months of combat, and if you lose control, if you get emotional or you get afraid or too brave or just don't stay calm and think and be relaxed, you're going to die. So Vietnam was a gigantic plus. It comes back to the fact that I have been to a bad place. I had that bad place to go back to, that helped me remain calm enough to get the job done...I had seen the birds disappear before."
February 10, 2010
So disappointing.
I wanted to read just one good book on Katrina, which after all was the greatest disaster to befall an American city in almost a hundred years. Seems important to know about, so I looked around. This book got the most praise, the most awards, and the most blurbs, so I gave it a chance.
Besides being light on facts and heavy on judgmental analysis, the main problem with the book is that Brinkley seems eerily compelled to relate the life story of every single one of the hundreds of people he interviews. So we get two or three pages about the college life and military career of a Gulf Coast sheriff, and then two or three pages about a Coast Guard rescuer's career, then two or three pages on the life of a worker at the animal shelter. The book is just polluted with irrelevant and boring side-stories of people who have absolutely no relation to each other besides being in the general Gulf Coast area when Katrina hit. I simply couldn't plow through it all.
Still, some worthwhile takeaways: It was good to see New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin get a drubbing, especially after all the premature praise he got for shouting about chaos during radio interviews right after the hurricane. The problem was that he simply waited far too long to call a mandatory evacuation of the city, not until the day before the storm actually, and even then he didn't use the city buses to pick up stragglers. Also, "Brownie" was just as bad as he is usually portrayed, but I had no idea he also extensively lied on his resume before getting the top FEMA job, and people had been calling for his head at least a year before the storm. The fact that FEMA spent a significant amount of its resources actually preventing "unauthorized" assistance from coming into the city is truly astounding.
Still, there's got to be a general history better than this.
I wanted to read just one good book on Katrina, which after all was the greatest disaster to befall an American city in almost a hundred years. Seems important to know about, so I looked around. This book got the most praise, the most awards, and the most blurbs, so I gave it a chance.
Besides being light on facts and heavy on judgmental analysis, the main problem with the book is that Brinkley seems eerily compelled to relate the life story of every single one of the hundreds of people he interviews. So we get two or three pages about the college life and military career of a Gulf Coast sheriff, and then two or three pages about a Coast Guard rescuer's career, then two or three pages on the life of a worker at the animal shelter. The book is just polluted with irrelevant and boring side-stories of people who have absolutely no relation to each other besides being in the general Gulf Coast area when Katrina hit. I simply couldn't plow through it all.
Still, some worthwhile takeaways: It was good to see New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin get a drubbing, especially after all the premature praise he got for shouting about chaos during radio interviews right after the hurricane. The problem was that he simply waited far too long to call a mandatory evacuation of the city, not until the day before the storm actually, and even then he didn't use the city buses to pick up stragglers. Also, "Brownie" was just as bad as he is usually portrayed, but I had no idea he also extensively lied on his resume before getting the top FEMA job, and people had been calling for his head at least a year before the storm. The fact that FEMA spent a significant amount of its resources actually preventing "unauthorized" assistance from coming into the city is truly astounding.
Still, there's got to be a general history better than this.
June 16, 2023
Well I'm finally throwing in the towel on this one! I'll admit I did not finish it but rather skim read from about p450 to the end.
Whilst no one can accuse Brinkley of not being thorough, there is just wayyyyyy too much information presented in this book to wade through. I totally understand that the author was trying to provide a minute to minute retelling of the disaster but it's easy to get completely bogged down in detail.
The take away points for me were these:
The infrastructure in New Orleans and the surrounding river areas is nowhere near adequate. Coastal living assumes you need to have completely robust measures in place for flooding and New Orleans just didn't.
Those in charge put profit over people. As long as New Orleans is making a profit, who cares right?
The Bush government didn't give two shits about their "people". The poor black communities were not Bush's concern and never would be.
There was an absolute failure in the physical and human systems in place to deal with natural disaster in the New Orleans area.
People died needlessly.
A very very thorough but ultimately over-detailed account of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
Whilst no one can accuse Brinkley of not being thorough, there is just wayyyyyy too much information presented in this book to wade through. I totally understand that the author was trying to provide a minute to minute retelling of the disaster but it's easy to get completely bogged down in detail.
The take away points for me were these:
The infrastructure in New Orleans and the surrounding river areas is nowhere near adequate. Coastal living assumes you need to have completely robust measures in place for flooding and New Orleans just didn't.
Those in charge put profit over people. As long as New Orleans is making a profit, who cares right?
The Bush government didn't give two shits about their "people". The poor black communities were not Bush's concern and never would be.
There was an absolute failure in the physical and human systems in place to deal with natural disaster in the New Orleans area.
People died needlessly.
A very very thorough but ultimately over-detailed account of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
dnf-but-will-try-again
September 12, 2023This comes highly recommended to anyone interested in learning more or visiting New Orleans. Unfortunately, my library only has the abridged version available on audiobook- with an awful narrator to boot. I'm DNFing that version at 67% and will likely pickup the full book at some point in the future.
August 9, 2025
Lots of names that made it hard for me to follow but I wanted to learn more about Hurricane Katrina before visiting New Orleans next month and bc i like learning about natural disasters. I was definitely most interested in the parts about the hospitals and Super Dome
June 3, 2011
I cannot finish this book, there are so many inaccuracies that I can't even get past the first 100 pages. I was utterly disgusted by the inaccuracies. This was written by a "History" professor who obviously doesn't know the history of New Orleans or its surrounding areas. In one section of the book he talks about how the levees were blown in 1927 at Caernarvon, Louisiana, then a few pages later says that the levee was blown in the Lower 9th Ward. There is STILL a crater where the levee was blown in Caernarvon because of rather large amount of explosives used. Had the levee been blown in the Lower 9th, there would have been flooding in Arabi and maybe Chalmette, and being that my family lived there at the time, I know for a fact that there WASN'T. He paints the Lower 9th as always being a black community when it had been some what diverse at one time and many residents moved to places like St. Bernard Parish and Jefferson. My best friend's father grew up in the Lower 9th and moved to St. Bernard in the early 70's as did many of his friends. The time line may be right, but his account of the history of the area is wrong. Something I find rather disgusting from a so called history professor. How hard is it to check your facts? Shouldn't some one who is an educator be teaching people things that are the truth rather than speculation and out right falsehoods? This is a shining example of why the U.S. fails at so much these days. Hurry up and put something out even if it's bad information just to cash in on the almighty dollar. Your integrity will remain intact because it's for the "greater good." BS. It's just laziness.
August 16, 2024
I have read three Katrina books so far. All have revolved around one small aspect of the bigger disaster namely hospitals and a nursing home. So with a long road trip ahead I decided it was a good time to pick up this book which covers the entire disaster at least the parts that took place in New Orleans and Mississippi. Overall it was a very readable account. We got to know many people affected by the disaster. From first responders to citizens like Diane Johnson. It gave a balanced view on who was to blame for the botched response to the disaster. Most either go right for Bush or "Brownie" who did a heck of a job apparently. But frankly everyone in power messed this up. Mayor Nagin is literally the worst. Refusing to call a mandatory evacuation, parking much needed buses where they flooded and were useless letting several trains that could've been used to evacuate go away empty. Then there's his cowardly behaviour after. Hiding out in a hotel refusing to meet with his people. The press went easy on him from what I remember. But he acted the worst of all of them. Wanting to look his best before meeting the president for a photo op really? Then there was Governor Blanco. She at least went to the Superdome and talked to people and tried to get things moving. Did she screw up? Oh yes she did but at least she showed some compassion. Can't believe Nagin got reelected after this mess. Of course the city lost half its population so maybe that's why. Bush was his usual idiotic self. I remember him as the incompetent leader who was at least very likeable unlike another president who would come along. But one thing I wish the author would've pointed out was when Bush said the storm took him by surprise the author said, McKinley wss also taken by suprise in 1900 with the Galveston hurricane. Well in 1900 they didn't have all the radar and other high tech data they had in 2005 when Katrina hit. Everyone knew this thing was coming and that it was a monster and I wish the author had called him out on that. A hurricane is projected to hit a city below sea level and it's a big one you know something bad is going to come out of that. You might not know how bad but it'll be pretty bad. Our friends from another book the Manganos appeared here and I really wish there was a non biased book about them. Seems like they lost funding to their home for a few years which was conviently left out of Flood of Lies. Infection control is extremely important when working with the elderly and I'm positive they did have transportation offered to get those people out but refused. Who knows why? I don't think they set out to kill those people but they certainly were negligent in their care of them. We get a snapshot of Memorial as well as a videographer searches through the place and finds all the bodies there. This book also goes beyond New Orleans into Mississippi with some of the most harrowing descriptions of the storm. You get to know a lot of the people involved including those who didn't make it. Some survived the storm only to succumb afterwards due to stress lack of oxygen or medication or even food and water. Others were taken as the storm hit or as the water hit their houses too quickly for them to react. Do not recommend reading this if you are feeling depressed cause it's just hit after hit frustration after frustration. The crime and looting also recieved mention. Several places refused to take survivors or refugees because of this. There was a heart breaking scene of a woman Charmaine Neville resting in the slightly cooler air of the roof of her shelter being raped. There were stories of cops shooting and killing people, the looting I have mixed feelings. In those circumstances I get looting for necessities like food, water and diapers or even medications, I might even go as far as clothing. But TVs? What the hell are you gonna do with that? There was a chapter devoted to shop keepers protecting their stores including a hardware store and an antique shop. Again what the hell are you going to do with a painting or a clock or even hardware? No one accused criminals of being smart at least these ones weren't. They were angry. I did find it interesting that in some cases gangs turned into heroes. Protecting children and older people at the convention centre and being a source of leadership and authority. I remember watching a docudrama once that said we are nine meals from anarchy and Katrina certainly proved that to be true. The storm certainly brought out the worst in humanity, but it also brought out the best, neighbours helping each other out, strangers supporting each other. This was a dark chapter in recent history but there was some good sprinkled in. Of course the racism issue reared up and frankly I agree that probably played a big factor in why no one cared about New Orleans. I know in this day and age we have the everything is racist constantly told to us but I can said from reading this book and my own memories of watching this disaster unfold this was definitely the case here. 90% of the people left were black, poor and undereducated. For once Kayne got it right when he said George Bush doesn't care about black people. With all that said this book was a bit too long. It was hard to forget who was who as we'd be introduced to someone and they'd pop up layer and you'd be like who? It did get bogged down with two many details and life histories. All I need to know is who they are and what they do, this person is a storm chaser, this guy runs a local bar short and simple. Otherwise it was a good overall view of this horrific tragedy.
February 15, 2014
Fascinating read. Hard to believe the USA let down so many of their citizens when we can come to the aid of so many countries in the world.
Wish there had been a map of the areas effected as I am not familiar with the regions. Getting out my atlas and checking the footnotes was tedious. Great historical read...now I may have to reread Issac's Storm again.
Wish there had been a map of the areas effected as I am not familiar with the regions. Getting out my atlas and checking the footnotes was tedious. Great historical read...now I may have to reread Issac's Storm again.
August 29, 2016
I've been looking for a comprehensive book explaining the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and finally found it! (Zeitoun was not) At more than 600 pages, it's a big boy, but I feel thoroughly educated about what and how it happened, and overall found it riveting. Interesting to read this during hurricane season with New Orleans flooded again..
February 16, 2009
Hugely impressive reporting. Best book on Katrina I've read so far.
September 13, 2018
Listen, I’m not stupid, I knew sooner or later I was gonna have to mess around with that big storm they got over in Florence, figured I’d give this a read and see what all the fuss is about. Boring! Didn’t we do this last year? You think I’m gonna waste my time babysitting those pasta-eaters and let the wheels fall right off this investigation, you got another thing coming! But don’t worry folks, I got the situation covered. FLORENCE IS IN SAFE HANDS! I got Pete taking care of the hurricane thing as we speak, let everyone know he’s got full authority to act for me on this. Guy’s been in and out of meetings all day, what a trooper. I figure he knows his way around a mop and all that, this is more his kinda party than mine. Division of labor! Meantime I’m gonna really double down and find that fink agitator once and for all. I’m gettin’ real close, I can feel it. Someone around here is running scared, but it ain’t gonna do any good. Hurricane Donald is coming!
April 29, 2021
The timeline given was helpful as to how things played out. Confirms for me that people need to rely on themselves and their communities in a natural disaster or otherwise. The government is not your savior. The stories of the Cajun Navy which I don’t think was named as such in the book, we’re prime examples of people pitching in and doing what What is needed and not waiting for help. The idea that the government hast to do a thing is preposterous. For the most part, states should take care of them selves. Nothing good comes of big government.
The book did seem to end sort of abruptly without much explanation of the reconstruction but I guess since the book was about the hurricane and subsequent disaster I guess then the rebuilding would be the subject of another book.
The book did seem to end sort of abruptly without much explanation of the reconstruction but I guess since the book was about the hurricane and subsequent disaster I guess then the rebuilding would be the subject of another book.
August 24, 2025
3.5 stars
THE GOOD:
-There is information galore about anything you could possibly want to know about the years, months, and days leading up to the storm, the storm itself, the levee breaches, and the immediate aftermath. Brinkley provides a detailed timeline of events towards the end of the book, and there are plenty of cited sources and direct quotes.
-There are two sections of the book with photos. The first section (in the chapter titled "The Busted Levee Blues") contains B&W photos of several of the people profiled in the book. The second section (in the chapter titles "The Intense Irrationality of Thursday") contains full-color photos, several of which are extremely graphic. Reader discretion is advised, but these photos truly help illustrate the horrific nature of the storm and its aftermath, especially if you are unfamiliar with it. It's important to see the destruction that Katrina brought, since only reading about the breached levees and storm damage can make these stories seem unbelievable or untrue.
-The majority of the book is about the events that happened as a result of Hurricane Katrina in the city of New Orleans (and its suburbs), but there is a lot of information about Mississippi, Alabama, and even Florida, which lot of other Katrina resources seem to ignore or gloss over.
THE BAD:
-Douglas Brinkley was a professor of history at Tulane University in 2005, meaning he was a primary witness to the lackluster storm prep, the storm itself, and the failure of the levees, since he was sheltering in place in a high-rise condo when the storm struck. He was also a primary witness to (and was directly affected by) the dysfunction of the city of New Orleans, the state of Louisiana, and the federal government. It is impossible to go through something like Hurricane Katrina firsthand and not have your biases affect what you're writing about. In his author's note, Brinkley makes the following claim:
It is true that Brinkley did not write a memoir about Hurricane Katrina. In fact, he speaks of nothing in the book from a first-person point of view. But his personal opinions about the city, state, and national leaders come screaming off the page. I wholeheartedly agree that every level of leadership failed the citizens of New Orleans during Katrina. I also believe that the actions (and inaction) of these leaders can speak for themselves. The infusion of Brinkley's biases about certain leaders, particularly his leniancy towards Governor Kathleen Blanco and his disdain towards Ray Nagin, detract from the overall story and, in some circumstances, manipulate or obscure the truth.
-Speaking of the truth, there are two complaints that I have about the information in this book. Hurricane Katrina has been of significant interest to me for many years, so I have done research and reading on it outside of this book. There are some things recorded in the book that are incorrect. One example is the discovery of the body of Tonette Jackson (page 156 in my copy). Brinkley claims that Jackson's body was recovered 3 days after she was swept away from her Biloxi, MS home. However, this claim is incorrect. Her husband, Hardy Jackson, was the subject of a heartbreaking, widely distributed interview in which he expresses his anguish about losing her and his desire to find her. Unfortunately, he would pass away in 2013, and Tonette Jackson's remains were identified and returned to her family in 2024, 19 years after Hurricane Katrina.
-While I believe that the volume of information in this book is ultimately a strength, it is also a weakness. This is a massive book, and there are a lot of factors at play. All of the storylines and individuals profiled can be difficult to follow, and information is often repeated for the sake of context.
THE UGLY:
Brinkley says the following about the Katrina response towards the end of the book:
Perhaps I have a "receptive mind", as Brinkley says. But I cannot, in good faith or objectivity, review the facts of Katrina and not come to the conclusion of racism being a significant, if not primary factor in the Katrina Disaster. Many people and systems failed the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, but none more than former President Bush, former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, and former FEMA director Michael Brown.
This book was easily one of the most infuriating things I've ever read. I cried several times while reading it and often had to step away from it out of anger. It is often said that you should not attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity. But what do you do when your leaders are stupid and malicious, and you are powerless to stop them?
Most positions, despite what the powers that be want you to believe, are not acquired in a meritocratic system. Leaders promote and defend their friends, regardless of their ability to do the job. This is even scarier in the case of the government. Having an unqualified person in a position of governmental power can seriously damage people's lives and livelihoods. When the unqualified people in power have unchecked biases that they bring into their positions, things get even worse.
Plainly, the combination of stupidity and racism/classism at every level of government is what caused the pain, suffering, and death of thousands. We saw this in 2005, and people were outraged. We complained, we pointed fingers, we called congressmen, and some even sacrificed time and money to help the victims. But the same thing is happening 20 years later. Unqualified, unchecked people in power run our government, and they are even more openly evil. Lives and livelihoods are still at stake. 20 years have passed, and we have learned nothing.
In our current political climate, I see a lot of people who are nostalgic for the comparatively civil political landscape of past decades. To be sure, American politics are horrendously toxic in 2025. But as more and more time passes, I am unconvinced that politics were ever as civil as people claim they were. I think that all of the hatred and vitriol have always been (and always will be) there, simmering below the surface. Like the water rushing over the breached levees in New Orleans, once the hatred gets an opportunity to show itself, it is not easily quelled, and always leaves destruction in its path.
The injustice and inequality displayed then and now often make me feel angry and hopeless. But, as a Christian, I am reminded that we cannot place our hope in fallible leaders and in systems built by sinful people. We should pursue justice and truth, but the world will always be broken on this side of heaven, and there is nothing that we can do in our human strength to solve that. Our ultimate hope is in the return of Christ, upon which all things will be made new and perfect. Revelation 21 reads:
How beautiful is that? God does not leave His remnant for dead outside the Superdome. He does not callously hide from the people and avoid His responsibility to them. He does not lie and deflect. He is THE true and better! He cares intimately for His people and dwells among them. The water of life in Christ triumphs over the waters of death.
At the end of the book, Brinkley records an account of the funeral of Diane Johnson, a woman who died after being evacuated from New Orleans:
This is a difficult book. It is long, and it is painful. It is raw, real, ugly, frustrating, and bleak, much like things are today. But God is always with us in the midst of difficulty and pain. And one day, pain will cease entirely. Instead of being in a deluge of deadly water or anger, we can look forward to a deluge of God's grace, mercy, and perfection for eternity.
THE GOOD:
-There is information galore about anything you could possibly want to know about the years, months, and days leading up to the storm, the storm itself, the levee breaches, and the immediate aftermath. Brinkley provides a detailed timeline of events towards the end of the book, and there are plenty of cited sources and direct quotes.
-There are two sections of the book with photos. The first section (in the chapter titled "The Busted Levee Blues") contains B&W photos of several of the people profiled in the book. The second section (in the chapter titles "The Intense Irrationality of Thursday") contains full-color photos, several of which are extremely graphic. Reader discretion is advised, but these photos truly help illustrate the horrific nature of the storm and its aftermath, especially if you are unfamiliar with it. It's important to see the destruction that Katrina brought, since only reading about the breached levees and storm damage can make these stories seem unbelievable or untrue.
-The majority of the book is about the events that happened as a result of Hurricane Katrina in the city of New Orleans (and its suburbs), but there is a lot of information about Mississippi, Alabama, and even Florida, which lot of other Katrina resources seem to ignore or gloss over.
THE BAD:
-Douglas Brinkley was a professor of history at Tulane University in 2005, meaning he was a primary witness to the lackluster storm prep, the storm itself, and the failure of the levees, since he was sheltering in place in a high-rise condo when the storm struck. He was also a primary witness to (and was directly affected by) the dysfunction of the city of New Orleans, the state of Louisiana, and the federal government. It is impossible to go through something like Hurricane Katrina firsthand and not have your biases affect what you're writing about. In his author's note, Brinkley makes the following claim:
"Because I was in New Orleans for Katrina, and later took part in boat rescues around Memorial Medical Center and Central City, a memoir of the Great Deluge was possible. Instead, I chose to write a history of a single week in the summer of 2005: August 27 (Saturday) to September 3 (Saturday)."
It is true that Brinkley did not write a memoir about Hurricane Katrina. In fact, he speaks of nothing in the book from a first-person point of view. But his personal opinions about the city, state, and national leaders come screaming off the page. I wholeheartedly agree that every level of leadership failed the citizens of New Orleans during Katrina. I also believe that the actions (and inaction) of these leaders can speak for themselves. The infusion of Brinkley's biases about certain leaders, particularly his leniancy towards Governor Kathleen Blanco and his disdain towards Ray Nagin, detract from the overall story and, in some circumstances, manipulate or obscure the truth.
-Speaking of the truth, there are two complaints that I have about the information in this book. Hurricane Katrina has been of significant interest to me for many years, so I have done research and reading on it outside of this book. There are some things recorded in the book that are incorrect. One example is the discovery of the body of Tonette Jackson (page 156 in my copy). Brinkley claims that Jackson's body was recovered 3 days after she was swept away from her Biloxi, MS home. However, this claim is incorrect. Her husband, Hardy Jackson, was the subject of a heartbreaking, widely distributed interview in which he expresses his anguish about losing her and his desire to find her. Unfortunately, he would pass away in 2013, and Tonette Jackson's remains were identified and returned to her family in 2024, 19 years after Hurricane Katrina.
-While I believe that the volume of information in this book is ultimately a strength, it is also a weakness. This is a massive book, and there are a lot of factors at play. All of the storylines and individuals profiled can be difficult to follow, and information is often repeated for the sake of context.
THE UGLY:
Brinkley says the following about the Katrina response towards the end of the book:
"The question of whether the political response to Katrina was implicitly racist was debated from the first days. That the local government was ill-prepared and the federal government uncaring was obvious during that critical first week. Many of the problems and attitudes at every level pre-dated Katrina by years. The difference was that right after the storm, city and state leaders were doing the best with whatever they had. Leaders at the federal level, meaning Secretary Chertoff and President Bush, shirked the Gulf Coast until pressured to act, days late. And so it follows that local mistakes were committed before anyone knew the racial makeup of the victims. The lag at the federal level started after it was obvious who was affected most. The fact that the federal response could have been better, starting the moment the hurricane struck, begs the questions: Under what circumstances could it have been better? If the victims were white? If they were rich? If they had not all been members of a voting bloc that the Republican Party had a motive to disperse? All of those factors offered explanations to receptive minds. The one thing that rings truest, though, is that cronyism riddled FEMA and its contractors in the Bush administration, making incompetence and not racism the key to the response. As Lieutenant Commander Duckworth noted, the bureaucracy "was to blame"."
Perhaps I have a "receptive mind", as Brinkley says. But I cannot, in good faith or objectivity, review the facts of Katrina and not come to the conclusion of racism being a significant, if not primary factor in the Katrina Disaster. Many people and systems failed the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, but none more than former President Bush, former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, and former FEMA director Michael Brown.
This book was easily one of the most infuriating things I've ever read. I cried several times while reading it and often had to step away from it out of anger. It is often said that you should not attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity. But what do you do when your leaders are stupid and malicious, and you are powerless to stop them?
Most positions, despite what the powers that be want you to believe, are not acquired in a meritocratic system. Leaders promote and defend their friends, regardless of their ability to do the job. This is even scarier in the case of the government. Having an unqualified person in a position of governmental power can seriously damage people's lives and livelihoods. When the unqualified people in power have unchecked biases that they bring into their positions, things get even worse.
Plainly, the combination of stupidity and racism/classism at every level of government is what caused the pain, suffering, and death of thousands. We saw this in 2005, and people were outraged. We complained, we pointed fingers, we called congressmen, and some even sacrificed time and money to help the victims. But the same thing is happening 20 years later. Unqualified, unchecked people in power run our government, and they are even more openly evil. Lives and livelihoods are still at stake. 20 years have passed, and we have learned nothing.
In our current political climate, I see a lot of people who are nostalgic for the comparatively civil political landscape of past decades. To be sure, American politics are horrendously toxic in 2025. But as more and more time passes, I am unconvinced that politics were ever as civil as people claim they were. I think that all of the hatred and vitriol have always been (and always will be) there, simmering below the surface. Like the water rushing over the breached levees in New Orleans, once the hatred gets an opportunity to show itself, it is not easily quelled, and always leaves destruction in its path.
The injustice and inequality displayed then and now often make me feel angry and hopeless. But, as a Christian, I am reminded that we cannot place our hope in fallible leaders and in systems built by sinful people. We should pursue justice and truth, but the world will always be broken on this side of heaven, and there is nothing that we can do in our human strength to solve that. Our ultimate hope is in the return of Christ, upon which all things will be made new and perfect. Revelation 21 reads:
"Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life."
How beautiful is that? God does not leave His remnant for dead outside the Superdome. He does not callously hide from the people and avoid His responsibility to them. He does not lie and deflect. He is THE true and better! He cares intimately for His people and dwells among them. The water of life in Christ triumphs over the waters of death.
At the end of the book, Brinkley records an account of the funeral of Diane Johnson, a woman who died after being evacuated from New Orleans:
"This was no time to talk about the lethal ineptitude of Bush, Brown, Chertoff, Nagin, or Blanco. Instead of mourning Johnson's death, or Katrina bashing, (Reverand Willie) Walker spoke of how lucky Diane Johnson was to be in heaven. No more chains. No more floodwater. No more sickness. No more post-Katrina stress. "She made it through her Katrina tribulations", Walker intoned. "Her home may have been debris. Mud may have overwhelmed her household. Her wardrobe may have been lost in the flood. But now she is dressed in white robes, ready to meet the Maker. She is no longer a displaced person or refugee or shelter victim. She is now in a clean place, without dirty hands.""
This is a difficult book. It is long, and it is painful. It is raw, real, ugly, frustrating, and bleak, much like things are today. But God is always with us in the midst of difficulty and pain. And one day, pain will cease entirely. Instead of being in a deluge of deadly water or anger, we can look forward to a deluge of God's grace, mercy, and perfection for eternity.
November 25, 2014
Very disturbing look at the immediate aftermath (the first week) of the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans (with occasionally brief sidebars to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi). Time and again the incredible ineptitude, incompetence, pettiness, lack of concern for others, and preoccupation with looking good themselves defined the government officials whose jobs were to make sure that New Orleanians were taken care of to the best extent possible. Nobody who had responsibility (other than some brave National Guard and Coast Guard members) came out looking good.
Ray Nagin, the mayor, may have been the worst of the bunch. A leader AWOL, paranoid about his own safety and petrified to show his face in public. His behavior was despicable. He was a coward. Governor Kathleen Blanco meant well but was overwhelmed and did not effectively manage the crisis. She was too emotional and too concerned about states' rights at a time when she should have accepted whatever help was offered regardless of the parameters that came with it. President George W. Bush's astonishing lack of concern with the plight of the victims was a disgrace. He truly failed at this important moment: in my opinion, the single biggest blunder of his presidency (and that is saying something). While I do think that, deep down, he did care about the people, he actions and words ("You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie.") said otherwise. Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security, came across as a dispassionate, too-busy-to-be-bothered bureaucrat who was amazingly out of touch with reality, should have been fired immediately for his dismal performance. And the same goes for Michael Brown, the embattled and completely ineffective director or FEMA. Brown was more concerned about how he looked on TV, and where he was going to eat dinner at in Baton Rouge, than with helping sick and dying people get evacuated out of New Orleans. These people honestly probably could not have performed their respective roles any worse than they did. I would be remiss if I did not mention the atrocious behavior of many New Orleans Police officers - some who stole Cadillacs and fled the city, others who openly threatened people for no apparent reason, and many who were just unresponsive to the needs of the citizens.
Plenty of blame to go around with regular New Orleanians as well thanks to many people who could have left prior to the storm hitting but intentionally chose to disregard the warning and instead decided to stay and "tough it out." The sick and elderly, of which there were many, who were physical unable to leave is a completely different story - and a sad one at that as nobody seemed to really care about them. Most disturbing to me of anything in the book is the depictions of the massive looting that took place throughout the city. Truly disgusting. People breaking into stores just because they could - they needed no other "reason" beyond that. And the fact that so many of them would defecate where they had looted, is repulsive. It reminds me animals trying to mark out their territory. My God, how revolting.
Brinkley kept the pace up, switching between stories of local heroes saving people (thankfully many, many everyday people in and out of New Orleans stepped things up and literally were life-savers to thousands of stranded people) and the bureaucratic mistakes and incompetence fouling up rescue efforts. I thought that, at times, Brinkley got too carried away with a certain person's story, over-dramatizing things as the story is based off their recollections and of course many people were probably engaging in a natural tendency to exaggerate their accomplishments. Also, he moves so quickly between talking about the political figures and the local, on-the-ground rescues, that it results in an uneven book (although I recognize that he was going by date, and not necessarily by a particular person's story).
Ray Nagin, the mayor, may have been the worst of the bunch. A leader AWOL, paranoid about his own safety and petrified to show his face in public. His behavior was despicable. He was a coward. Governor Kathleen Blanco meant well but was overwhelmed and did not effectively manage the crisis. She was too emotional and too concerned about states' rights at a time when she should have accepted whatever help was offered regardless of the parameters that came with it. President George W. Bush's astonishing lack of concern with the plight of the victims was a disgrace. He truly failed at this important moment: in my opinion, the single biggest blunder of his presidency (and that is saying something). While I do think that, deep down, he did care about the people, he actions and words ("You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie.") said otherwise. Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security, came across as a dispassionate, too-busy-to-be-bothered bureaucrat who was amazingly out of touch with reality, should have been fired immediately for his dismal performance. And the same goes for Michael Brown, the embattled and completely ineffective director or FEMA. Brown was more concerned about how he looked on TV, and where he was going to eat dinner at in Baton Rouge, than with helping sick and dying people get evacuated out of New Orleans. These people honestly probably could not have performed their respective roles any worse than they did. I would be remiss if I did not mention the atrocious behavior of many New Orleans Police officers - some who stole Cadillacs and fled the city, others who openly threatened people for no apparent reason, and many who were just unresponsive to the needs of the citizens.
Plenty of blame to go around with regular New Orleanians as well thanks to many people who could have left prior to the storm hitting but intentionally chose to disregard the warning and instead decided to stay and "tough it out." The sick and elderly, of which there were many, who were physical unable to leave is a completely different story - and a sad one at that as nobody seemed to really care about them. Most disturbing to me of anything in the book is the depictions of the massive looting that took place throughout the city. Truly disgusting. People breaking into stores just because they could - they needed no other "reason" beyond that. And the fact that so many of them would defecate where they had looted, is repulsive. It reminds me animals trying to mark out their territory. My God, how revolting.
Brinkley kept the pace up, switching between stories of local heroes saving people (thankfully many, many everyday people in and out of New Orleans stepped things up and literally were life-savers to thousands of stranded people) and the bureaucratic mistakes and incompetence fouling up rescue efforts. I thought that, at times, Brinkley got too carried away with a certain person's story, over-dramatizing things as the story is based off their recollections and of course many people were probably engaging in a natural tendency to exaggerate their accomplishments. Also, he moves so quickly between talking about the political figures and the local, on-the-ground rescues, that it results in an uneven book (although I recognize that he was going by date, and not necessarily by a particular person's story).
July 17, 2019
While the book contains a vivid account of the Storm from many perspectives, it suffers from a few problems. 1) Based on the date, it was written very soon after the events and, as a result, has more than a few errors based on rumors. What's weird (maybe sloppy editing) is that the author will mention a rumor as if it was fact and then later in the book state that it was just a rumor. 2) While the author doesn't appear to be deliberately inaccurate, he's seems to have a pretty solid conservative bias. This book has the most pages devoted to looting of any of the accounts that I've read. Brinkley only rarely mentions people breaking into stores to obtain food and water and goes on endlessly about vandalism and theft of expensive items. While he doesn't give the national Republican administration a free pass, you feel that he's (as much as possible) pro-Republican and anti-Democrat. At one point he specifically refers to Gov. Blanco's complaint that too many LA national guard members were away in Iraq during the Storm as "a specious, liberal, Democratic argument." Regardless of the validity of her statement (not much), the adjectives he lards it with give you an idea where he's coming from. Barely three stars.
March 9, 2013
The book was a very hard read for me, I was born and raised in Metairie, Louisiana, which is a suburb of New Orleans. I worked at Southern Baptist Hospital, known as Memorial Medical Center, for over seven years. I worked for Charity Hospital -- University Hospital -- right after nursing school. I have very fond memories of these places. My husband and I moved away from the area in 1997 due to his work. I know people who were affected by Katrina and their lives will never be the same. I wanted a real timeline to understand what happened during Katrina. I asked for it and I got it. I applaud Douglas Brinkley on a job well done. New Orleans and the outlining areas was greatly affected by Hurricane Katrina and will never be the same. I hope that the lessons that were learned thru this horrible incident will never have to be repeated.
February 17, 2016
I can't recall ever reading a more horrifying book. Brinkley provides us with a very disturbing look at what society could become when all civil authority and services completely breakdown. NOLA became an absolute dystopian hell during and after Katrina. Brinkley describes in excruciating detail the incompetence of the local government, FEMA, and national leaders, the collapse of the NOPD (which came to stand for NO Police Department), the mistakes make by the state government, and the failure of the Army Corps of Engineers to properly construct the levees as well as the short-sightedness of NOLA taxpayers to maintain the levees. Brinkley also details the bravery of the USCG and ordinary citizens that became first-responders.
March 18, 2025
20 years in August. What an insane read. Katrina is running the risk of overlooked America history. Everyone has the fear-based curiosity of what a society looks like when it breaks down. Guess what? Already happened in the gulf south in summer of 2005. Doctors euthanizing their patients by the dozens; cops driving Escalades that they stole, shooting people asking for food, and then skipping town, republicans failing, republicans showing heroism, democrats failing, democrats showing heroism; it’s all there. Defend New Orleans.
September 30, 2009
If you can stomach it, I say do it. Absolutely incredible account of Katrina that focuses on aspects of the aftermath up and down the Gulf Coast. Extensively researched with insane interviews and personal accounts. I cannot say enough about the quality of this undertaking. I would have given this book as a gift to everyone I know but the topic is dicey and reading it will definitely bring you tears.
June 23, 2019
This book, is part current events, part true crime, part biography, part history, and completely fascinating. It strengthens one’s outrage at the atrocities perpetrated by those involved in the aftermath of Katrina, but it informs one’s outrage as well, thoroughly explaining the myriad reasons this disaster happened. Since I read this, I’ve read many other great books about disasters. This one is still the most compelling.
June 2, 2019
Thorough and engrossing account of Hurricane Katrina and the failed response of various government agencies. Paints a captivating picture of a place so full of history and culture wrecked by the most destructive forces of nature, and the suffering of those who were there for it. Should make the reader question their own preparedness for natural disasters as well as what should be expected by the government during those times.
June 26, 2025
Pretty much as comprehensive as it gets. Well written and reports unbiased stories and facts - if you ever want to learn more about Katrina, the colossal failures of people who should have helped, and some amazing heroic stories, this covers it all. Because it is so comprehensive it is incredibly long, but worth the read for anyone who is interested!
January 5, 2025
I thought this book was riveting. Hurricane Katrina, and the resulting failures of bureaucratic leadership have always intrigued me-this book just showed me why. I like the way Brinkley gave accounts from the various perspectives of survivors and first responders.
November 14, 2008
I learned that racism is not a problem we have solved in this country. It darkens the aftermath of everything connected with Hurrican Katrina.
January 10, 2021
First published on May 1, 2006, "The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast," by Douglas Brinkley, is a masterpiece of nonfiction. This book is incredibly thorough, informative, and ruthless in its unflinching journalism. "The Great Deluge" was tremendously painful to read. I cried a lot. I sure learned a lot. I absolutely love this book.
In late March/early April, 2019, I took my first (and so far, only) trip to New Orleans to attend the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival. Having never been to Louisiana before, I felt like a giant sponge, taking everything in. New Orleans is such an amazing, beautiful place. But some brutal facts were just inescapable. In New Orleans, most of the white-collar, affluent people are white, and most of the blue-collar, working-class people are Black. At the literary festival, almost all of the attendees were white. Almost all of the people serving the attendees were Black.
At one event, I was able to hear the Pulitzer-Prize winning author Michael Cunningham speak (best known for his 1998 novel, "The Hours," which was turned into an award-winning film). At another event, a local author hosting a writers' workshop engaged the audience in a Q&A session. Most of the audience members were residents of New Orleans who lived in the affluent neighborhoods (which are predominantly white). The event was held in the French Quarter, a neighborhood most popular for the city's tourism industry. When members of the audience were asked about misconceptions "the larger public" has about New Orleans, several people answered with irritation: "they just think of Katrina" (which occurred on August 29, 2005). Many people nodded, and one person vehemently said, "People need to forget about Katrina. New Orleans is more than Katrina." This proclamation was met with even more vigorous nodding, and even some applause.
The service workers at this event, however, had a completely different worldview. Not only were these people -- who were working for minimum wage -- still *very much* thinking about Katrina and its impacts on their lives, but three different working-class people I spoke with actually believed that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had dynamited the levies and flooded the Lower Ninth Ward on purpose, in order to kill the poor.
The information sent me reeling. HAD the levies been dynamited? I honestly didn't know. I did know one thing for certain: the affluent white people of New Orleans, and the working poor of New Orleans, live in two very, very different realities.
My friend Blair loaned me her copy of "The Great Deluge" to read, and thank goodness she did, because this book is profoundly on the side of the people whose lives were devastated by Katrina, and speaks loudly, emphatically, for all of the people who were disgusted and outraged by the complete government failure of helping storm victims in the aftermath. "The Great Deluge" is a blistering examination of what went wrong, and why, and why the government response was so inept, cruel, and cataclysmic.
I know with full certainty now that the levies failed on their own; they were not dynamited. But the fact that I met multiple people in New Orleans who believe they were dynamited is a sign of a huge class divide.
It took me a long time to read "The Great Deluge." Every time Brinkley noted his source material in the text, I would look it up online, and read the articles and opinion pieces he quoted from or referenced. I watched several Frontline documentaries about Katrina, and other context pieces available on YouTube. "The Great Deluge" is a very long book, and all of the extra reading I did around it made the process of reading the book even longer.
It was time well spent.
When I think back on the writers' workshop I attended, in which affluent white city residents wanted the broader United States to "forget about Katrina," I feel such a mix of emotions, none of them good. As a Louisiana outsider, a white Coloradoan who *does* associate New Orleans with Katrina, I know I was one of the people the affluent city residents in that room strongly dislike.
But after reading "The Great Deluge," I think that's a good thing. I hope to God we don't ever forget Katrina. I hope to God we don't ever forget that it was a massive human tragedy that was 100% preventable. I hope we don't ever forget that the people who died in the highest numbers were the poor: especially the elderly poor and the disabled poor. Especially Black people who were poor.
I hope we never forget that the United States is a place of systemic inequality, and our national shortcomings were profoundly on display when we failed to evacuate people from the city, and then failed to help them after the city flooded.
I hope we don't ever forget that the survivors of Katrina were horribly traumatized, and the reality of that trauma still reside in the minds and bodies of those people today.
A huge thanks to Blair for loaning me this book.
Douglas Brinkley, and everyone who helped Douglas Brinkley research this book, are a national treasure. "The Great Deluge" is one of the best books I've ever read. It's certainly one of the most important.
Five million stars. Highly recommended.
In late March/early April, 2019, I took my first (and so far, only) trip to New Orleans to attend the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival. Having never been to Louisiana before, I felt like a giant sponge, taking everything in. New Orleans is such an amazing, beautiful place. But some brutal facts were just inescapable. In New Orleans, most of the white-collar, affluent people are white, and most of the blue-collar, working-class people are Black. At the literary festival, almost all of the attendees were white. Almost all of the people serving the attendees were Black.
At one event, I was able to hear the Pulitzer-Prize winning author Michael Cunningham speak (best known for his 1998 novel, "The Hours," which was turned into an award-winning film). At another event, a local author hosting a writers' workshop engaged the audience in a Q&A session. Most of the audience members were residents of New Orleans who lived in the affluent neighborhoods (which are predominantly white). The event was held in the French Quarter, a neighborhood most popular for the city's tourism industry. When members of the audience were asked about misconceptions "the larger public" has about New Orleans, several people answered with irritation: "they just think of Katrina" (which occurred on August 29, 2005). Many people nodded, and one person vehemently said, "People need to forget about Katrina. New Orleans is more than Katrina." This proclamation was met with even more vigorous nodding, and even some applause.
The service workers at this event, however, had a completely different worldview. Not only were these people -- who were working for minimum wage -- still *very much* thinking about Katrina and its impacts on their lives, but three different working-class people I spoke with actually believed that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had dynamited the levies and flooded the Lower Ninth Ward on purpose, in order to kill the poor.
The information sent me reeling. HAD the levies been dynamited? I honestly didn't know. I did know one thing for certain: the affluent white people of New Orleans, and the working poor of New Orleans, live in two very, very different realities.
My friend Blair loaned me her copy of "The Great Deluge" to read, and thank goodness she did, because this book is profoundly on the side of the people whose lives were devastated by Katrina, and speaks loudly, emphatically, for all of the people who were disgusted and outraged by the complete government failure of helping storm victims in the aftermath. "The Great Deluge" is a blistering examination of what went wrong, and why, and why the government response was so inept, cruel, and cataclysmic.
I know with full certainty now that the levies failed on their own; they were not dynamited. But the fact that I met multiple people in New Orleans who believe they were dynamited is a sign of a huge class divide.
It took me a long time to read "The Great Deluge." Every time Brinkley noted his source material in the text, I would look it up online, and read the articles and opinion pieces he quoted from or referenced. I watched several Frontline documentaries about Katrina, and other context pieces available on YouTube. "The Great Deluge" is a very long book, and all of the extra reading I did around it made the process of reading the book even longer.
It was time well spent.
When I think back on the writers' workshop I attended, in which affluent white city residents wanted the broader United States to "forget about Katrina," I feel such a mix of emotions, none of them good. As a Louisiana outsider, a white Coloradoan who *does* associate New Orleans with Katrina, I know I was one of the people the affluent city residents in that room strongly dislike.
But after reading "The Great Deluge," I think that's a good thing. I hope to God we don't ever forget Katrina. I hope to God we don't ever forget that it was a massive human tragedy that was 100% preventable. I hope we don't ever forget that the people who died in the highest numbers were the poor: especially the elderly poor and the disabled poor. Especially Black people who were poor.
I hope we never forget that the United States is a place of systemic inequality, and our national shortcomings were profoundly on display when we failed to evacuate people from the city, and then failed to help them after the city flooded.
I hope we don't ever forget that the survivors of Katrina were horribly traumatized, and the reality of that trauma still reside in the minds and bodies of those people today.
A huge thanks to Blair for loaning me this book.
Douglas Brinkley, and everyone who helped Douglas Brinkley research this book, are a national treasure. "The Great Deluge" is one of the best books I've ever read. It's certainly one of the most important.
Five million stars. Highly recommended.
October 5, 2024
This is a great overview of Katrina. How ironic that I finished it virtually on the eve of Hurricane Helene, which devastated the area I live in in Western North Carolina. Helene is now billed as the most powerful hurricane to hit the US since Katrina. Even as I type this, I can hear the whining of a chain saw eating through a downed tree. So the timing is, frankly, eerie.
But now I can identify a little with the wretchedness of the survivors of Katrina. At least our home was intact. But there is a certain strain to checking your dwindling supply of water and not knowing how you will be able to replenish it. It's mentally exhausting.
The irony is that just before Katrina struck, the mayor was congratulating himself on the largest percentage of evacuees before a hurricane ever. The evacuation was a success! Until it wasn't.
Just like Helene, Katrina packed a double-punch: the flooding that started shortly after the winds passed on. It wasn't really the storm surge or high winds that did down NOLA. It was all the water that needed to drain somewhere, and that somewhere was to the lowest point - New Orleans. Here, the French Broad River crested at its highest level in over a century. Here, Chimney Rock Village (just visited in July) was washed in to Lake Lure. It was the water that did the most damage.
Another similarity is the failure of FEMA to even show up. They say everyone needs to blame their failures in life on someone. So far for Helene, as for Katrina, it's FEMA. From the lack of federal interest to the lack of leadership and organization to the desperate attempts to keep others from helping, FEMA after Helene has been a virtual repeat of itself after Katrina. Last time, the blame game turned quickly political and reflected on George Bush. This time, one wonders upon whom it will fall.
And politics is clearly part of both situations. Governor Blanco of LA was a Democrat, and President Bush wasn't going to necessarily rush right out and help her, and let her take the credit. Same in WNC. Certainly, the county I'm in (Henderson) is dead red - no wonder President Biden has declared that he's sent all the help he can. But I think it's a fair question to ask what the federal government is doing when it promises millions in aid to foreign countries, when devastation is virtually on its doorstep. It's clear where Washington's priorities are. They will step over our dead bodies before they stoop to help.
Maybe it's easy for me to say this because I'm fully back on line - I don't want any more federal help because it always comes with strings attached. I believe we have the expertise to put ourselves back together. It will take longer, though, because the resources aren't always immediately available. So, really, what I would prefer is for Washington to leave us alone and let us keep our tax dollars and stop sending them overseas for their own benefit.
One shocking element about Katrina was how quickly the looting and raping began. Let's face it, the animal part of human nature is just below the surface. We went to Lowe's on Sunday, two days after Helene. They were only letting a few people in at a time, and there were multiple pallets of cinder blocks lined up in front of the store. I wonder if they were there to help in rebuilding - or to keep people from backing their pickup trucks through the front of the store.
So I enjoyed the book. It was a rare opportunity to compare/contrast my own experience. And it filled in some details for me about an event I was only vaguely aware of before the images of people on rooftops waving at helicopters hit the news.
But now I can identify a little with the wretchedness of the survivors of Katrina. At least our home was intact. But there is a certain strain to checking your dwindling supply of water and not knowing how you will be able to replenish it. It's mentally exhausting.
The irony is that just before Katrina struck, the mayor was congratulating himself on the largest percentage of evacuees before a hurricane ever. The evacuation was a success! Until it wasn't.
Just like Helene, Katrina packed a double-punch: the flooding that started shortly after the winds passed on. It wasn't really the storm surge or high winds that did down NOLA. It was all the water that needed to drain somewhere, and that somewhere was to the lowest point - New Orleans. Here, the French Broad River crested at its highest level in over a century. Here, Chimney Rock Village (just visited in July) was washed in to Lake Lure. It was the water that did the most damage.
Another similarity is the failure of FEMA to even show up. They say everyone needs to blame their failures in life on someone. So far for Helene, as for Katrina, it's FEMA. From the lack of federal interest to the lack of leadership and organization to the desperate attempts to keep others from helping, FEMA after Helene has been a virtual repeat of itself after Katrina. Last time, the blame game turned quickly political and reflected on George Bush. This time, one wonders upon whom it will fall.
And politics is clearly part of both situations. Governor Blanco of LA was a Democrat, and President Bush wasn't going to necessarily rush right out and help her, and let her take the credit. Same in WNC. Certainly, the county I'm in (Henderson) is dead red - no wonder President Biden has declared that he's sent all the help he can. But I think it's a fair question to ask what the federal government is doing when it promises millions in aid to foreign countries, when devastation is virtually on its doorstep. It's clear where Washington's priorities are. They will step over our dead bodies before they stoop to help.
Maybe it's easy for me to say this because I'm fully back on line - I don't want any more federal help because it always comes with strings attached. I believe we have the expertise to put ourselves back together. It will take longer, though, because the resources aren't always immediately available. So, really, what I would prefer is for Washington to leave us alone and let us keep our tax dollars and stop sending them overseas for their own benefit.
One shocking element about Katrina was how quickly the looting and raping began. Let's face it, the animal part of human nature is just below the surface. We went to Lowe's on Sunday, two days after Helene. They were only letting a few people in at a time, and there were multiple pallets of cinder blocks lined up in front of the store. I wonder if they were there to help in rebuilding - or to keep people from backing their pickup trucks through the front of the store.
So I enjoyed the book. It was a rare opportunity to compare/contrast my own experience. And it filled in some details for me about an event I was only vaguely aware of before the images of people on rooftops waving at helicopters hit the news.
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