The Great Deluge

Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast

By: Douglas Brinkley

Narrated by: Kyf Brewer

In the span of five violent hours on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed major Gulf Coast cities and flattened 150 miles of coastline. Yet those wind-torn hours represented only the first stage of the relentless triple tragedy that Katrina brought to the entire Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Mississippi to Alabama.

First was the hurricane, one of the three strongest ever to make landfall in the United States -- 150 mile per hour winds, with gusts measuring more than 180 miles per hour ripping buildings to pieces. Second, the storm-surge flooding, which submerged a half million homes, creating the largest refugee crisis since the Civil War. Eighty percent of New Orleans was under water, and whole towns in southeastern Louisiana ceased to exist. And third, the human tragedy of government mismanagement, which proved as cruel as the natural disaster itself.

In The Great Deluge, bestselling author Douglas Brinkley, a New Orleans resident and professor of history at Tulane University, rips the story of Katrina apart and relates what the category 3 hurricane was like from every point of view, while recognizing the true heroes.

Throughout the book, Brinkley lets the Katrina survivors tell their own stories, masterfully allowing them to record the nightmare that was Katrina. The Great Deluge investigates the failure of government at each level and breaks important new stories. Packed with interviews and original research, it traces the character flaws, inexperience, and ulterior motives that allowed the Katrina disaster to turn the Gulf Coast into a scene from a war movie or a third-world documentary.

Wonderful, Brilliant, Consuming

Brilliant writing & a perfectly matched voice for narration. Not only wonderful storytelling to get lost in, but a factual account of New Orleans that more people need to hear.

Exceptional!

The narrator was perfect. Loved the tone and pitch of his voice. He kept the book interesting

I loved this!

I loved it. Will listen to again and again. I will recommend to friends. 😁

Fun and interesting, wish it had a few more facts.

I liked this one. I wish it went a little deeper. I wish it got into a few more individuals and what they did. I would have liked to know what it was like for someone who simply got out in time and came back to find all their stuff looted and/or wet.

A good start

I lost my home in Lakeview to Katrina and the federal, state, and local bureaucrats. This abridged version of The Great Deluge is a good introduction for anyone interested in a clear picture of what happened before and after Katrina. The unabridged text offers a much more complete description as it contains supporting references. My one big complaint about the audio version: it would have been nice if they had hired a narrator who bothered to study local pronunciations. That probably only matters to a local.