Art & Architecture

Catastrophe in the Making: The Engineering of Katrina and the Disasters of Tomorrow

Island Press

ebook (PDF via app)

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Sale Price:
$14.50/拢12.50
Price:
$29.00/拢25.00
ISBN:
Published:
Jun 22, 2012
Copyright:
2010
Size:
6 x 9 in.
Illus:
figures, notes, index
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When houses are flattened, towns submerged, and people stranded without electricity or even food, we attribute the suffering to 鈥渘atural disasters鈥� or 鈥渁cts of God.鈥� But what if they鈥檙e neither? What if we, as a society, are bringing these catastrophes on ourselves?
 
That鈥檚 the provocative theory of Catastrophe in the Making, the first book to recognize Hurricane Katrina not as a 鈥減erfect storm,鈥� but a tragedy of our own making鈥攁nd one that could become commonplace.  
 
The authors, one a longtime New Orleans resident, argue that breached levees and sloppy emergency response are just the most obvious examples of government failure. The true problem is more deeply rooted and insidious, and stretches far beyond the Gulf Coast.
 
Based on the false promise of widespread prosperity, communities across the U.S. have embraced all brands of 鈥渆conomic development鈥� at all costs. In Louisiana, that meant development interests turning wetlands into shipping lanes. By replacing a natural buffer against storm surges with a 75-mile long, obsolete canal that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, they guided the hurricane into the heart of New Orleans and adjacent communities. The authors reveal why, despite their geographic differences, California and Missouri are building鈥攓uite literally鈥攖oward similar destruction.
 
Too often, the U.S. 鈥済rowth machine鈥� generates wealth for a few and misery for many. Drawing lessons from the most expensive 鈥渘atural鈥� disaster in American history, Catastrophe in the Making shows why thoughtless development comes at a price we can ill afford.