Unnatural Disaster: The Nation on Hurricane Katrina

by Betsy Reed (Editor), Adolph L. Reed Jr. (Introduction)

Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster of staggering proportions. The vicious winds and surging seas that lashed the Gulf Coast on August 31, 2005, paralyzed New Orleans and left a scene of utter devastation in their wake. But when the winds and waves abated, they revealed an unnatural disaster — a social catastrophe directly caused by the government's callous indifference to the needs of the region's most vulnerable residents. This pattern of near-criminal government neglect did not begin with its response to Katrina, but the hurricane did lay bare its extraordinary depth and horrifying consequences, exposing how race and class can spell life or death in contemporary America. In the months that followed, The Nation published a series of articles and editorials documenting the gross negligence of the Bush administration and the heroic effort of community organizers and ordinary citizens to put their city back together again, as well as the attempts of political progressives to push for a 'New Deal.' Unnatural Disaster includes riveting on-the-scene reporting, columns, blogs, essays and articles from Mike Davis and Anthony Fontenot, Naomi Klein, Patricia Williams, Jeremy Scahill, Eric Alterman, Adolph Reed, Jr., Eric Foner, Curtis Wilkie, Billy Sothern, among many others.

Genres: History, Environment, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 2006

Reviews

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reading this in conjuncture with The Great Deluge - the story of Hurricane Katrina. Wow is this an eye opener - it's as if Katrina turned over a big rock and underneath was all the corrupt cronyism of George Bush etc. I always knew he was a buffoon, but not to what extent his ignorance went. He turned a natural disaster into a political maelstrom!! Governor Pence even got into the fray with some pretty stupid suggestion!! Only Obama gave a word of the wise
at the time! Read and you will see!

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely provided much more information for my understanding of the racial inequality that was enhanced after Hurricane Katrina. God bless the city of New Orleans and its staunch believers.