Hurricane Katrina – In memoriam

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Hurricane Katrina was one of the most disastrous events on record. Countless deaths and injuries, followed by the heartbreak of lost loved ones, losing one’s homes, and, like the Phoenix, the agony of arising from the ashes and rock bottom to start over.

While many fingers may be pointed at a number of organisations for the sad failing in duties and responsibilities to assist people in their time of need, the important issue to hand is the practical assistance that should have been offered and given to the needy people who require to rebuild their homes and lives. The period of blame is a past issue – what is needed are practical solutions on the ground. In addition, solid and practical engineering projects to ensure this event does not occur again.

There were many thousands who lost their homes in that devastating tragedy, and a year on, many thousands are still waiting for their respective insurance companies to cough up the finances to rebuild their homes. If they do not start rebuilding by the end of August, mere days away, their homes will be declared as unfit to live in.

Much has occurred since that fateful day in August, and to demonstrate the many post discussions and important points raised since Katrina, I list below a select number of what I consider important and thought provoking publications on the Katrina disaster.

The date, August 29th will always be associated with Katrina and the fateful post effects and questions the event registered.

Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City [MP3 AUDIO] (Hardcover)
by Jed Horne  July 2006

Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security (Hardcover)
by Christopher Cooper, Robert Block August 2006-

Time: Hurricane Katrina: The Storm That Changed America (Hardcover)
by Editors of Time Magazine

The Storm: What Went Wrong and Why During Hurricane Katrina--the Inside Story from One Louisiana Scientist (Hardcover) May 2006
by Ivor van Heerden, Mike Bryan

Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster (Hardcover) Feb 2006
by Michael Eric Dyson "THE BARRAGE OF IMAGES in newspapers and on television tested the nation's collective sense of reality..." 

Hurricane Katrina: Response and Responsibilities (Paperback) Jan 2006
by John Brown Childs (Editor) "What happened to New Orleans is a bipartisan political crime..."

Katrina: The Ruin and Recovery of New Orleans (Hardcover)
by The Times-Picayune  August 2006

It Takes a Nation: How Strangers Became Family in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina (Paperback) July 2006-08-26
by Laura Dawn

After the Flood: The Victims of Hurricane Katrina Speak (Voices of Witness) (Paperback) October 2005
by Lola Vollen

'Unacceptable': The Federal Government's Response to Hurricane Katrina (Paperback) August 2006
by Walter M. Brasch

Through Katrina's Eyes: Poems from an Animal Rescuer's Soul (Paperback) Dec 2005
by Ed Kostro

Katrina Exposed: A Photographic Reckoning (Paperback)
by Steven Maklansky (Editor) July 2006

In Katrina's Wake: Portraits of Loss from an Unnatural Disaster Princeton Architectural Press (Hardcover) july 2006
by Elizabeth Royte, Bill McKibben, Susan Zakin, Chris Jordan

In addition, this book, due to be published in September, may be of interest to many…

Soul Storm, Finding God Amidst Disaster, Reflections from a Hurricane Katrina Survivor (Hardcover) Sept 2006
by Bruce Lee Smith