Catastrophe in the making : the engineering of Katrina and the disasters of tomorrow / William R. Freudenburg, Robert Gramling, Shirley Laska, Kai T. Erikson.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 171-196) and index.
Contents
The first days of Katrina -- A mighty storm hits the shore -- The setting -- Slicing through the swamps -- The growth machine comes to New Orleans -- A "helpful explosion" -- The collapse of engineered systems -- The loss of natural defenses -- Critical for economic survival? -- The axe in the attic -- The end of an error?
Summary
"On a sweltering August day in 2005, Hurricane Katrina blasted New Orleans, leaving behind devastation and chaos. Conventional wisdom tells us it was a tragic case of nature striking humans, but 'Catastrophe in the making' explains that the conventional wisdom is dangerously wrong. Katrina was instead a tragic case of humans striking nature, and paying dearly for it. Worse, we continue to make the same mistakes all across the country, courting costly and lethal disasters"--Inside cover.