This past weekend brought the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, although it turned out to be the ensuing days that were far more damaging than the storm itself.
Many people regard what happened to New Orleans as a natural disaster. But that’s not correct; Katrina itself didn’t flood the city, but the failure of the levees did. Satirist Harry Shearer is currently promoting his new documentary The Big Uneasy on this very subject. As he explains, it was evident to New Orleans residents what happened:
It became clear that the official explanations were not right. We all in New Orleans began to be aware that this was a man-made disaster – the worst since Chernobyl… When President Obama came down here and called it a natural disaster at a town hall meeting, that flipped a switch for me.
The Big Uneasy is screening tonight only in theaters across the country; check the website for showtimes near you.
I also recommend reading some of my previous posts on Katrina.
- Some lengthy quotes here from Rising Tide, John Barry great account of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, which also forecasts everything that went wrong with Katrina.
- Another quote from Rising Tide.
- This post on Sister Gertrude Morgan touched on Katrina.
- A look here at some New Orleans musicians.
- More here on local musicians responding to Katrina.
- Here are some musical responses to Katrina from hip-hop artists.
- This post on the occasion of the one-year anniversary, includes some of the above posts, but also some new info.
Finally, what better way to pay tribute than to post a couple songs.
Check this post for a brief bio of the band Royal Fingerbowl. I’ve long loved their song “Nothing But Time,” and it’s worth posting a second time. And given how shabbily New Orleans continues to be treated (see this clip from last week on The Rachel Maddow Show), it seems appropriate to include Clarence “Frogman” Henry‘s rendition of “You Always Hurt the One You Love.”
Royal Fingerbowl – Nothing But Time — BUY
Clarence “Frogman” Henry – You Always Hurt the One You Love — BUY