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Mississippi River Tragedies A Century of Unnatural Disaster
Author
Title
Mississippi River Tragedies A Century of Unnatural Disaster / Christine A. Klein and Sandra B. Zellmer.
ISBN
9781479807475
1479807478
9781479825387
1479825387
Publication
London : New York University Press, [2014]
Manufacture
Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2021
Copyright Notice Date
©[2014]
Physical Description
1 online resource (xix, 257 pages)
Local Notes
Access is available to the Yale community.
Notes
Description based on print version record.
Access and use
Access restricted by licensing agreement.
Summary
"American engineers have done astounding things to bend the Mississippi River to their will: forcing one of its tributaries to flow uphill, transforming over a thousand miles of roiling currents into a placid staircase of water, and wresting the lower half of the river apart from its floodplain. American law has aided and abetted these feats. But despite our best efforts, so-called 'natural disasters' continue to strike the Mississippi basin, as raging floodwaters decimate waterfront communities and abandoned towns literally crumble into the Gulf of Mexico. In some places, only the tombstones remain, leaning at odd angles as the underlying soil erodes away. Mississippi River Tragedies reveals that it is seductively deceptive?but horribly misleading?to call such catastrophes 'natural'" -- From Amazon.com.
Format
Books / Online
Language
English
Added to Catalog
January 14, 2021
Contents
Introduction : disasters, natural and otherwise
An unnatural river : how we got here
A decade of record floods (1903-1913) : the federal government tackles floods, but with levees only
The flood of 1927 : sheltered by immunity, the corps ventures beyond the "Colossal blunder" of the levees-only policy
The flood of 1937 : the corps builds floodways
Mid-century floods in the Missouri River Basin : Congress promises something for almost everyone
Hurricane Betsy of 1965 : the corps fortifies New Orleans and Congress insures floodplain residents
The flood of 1993 : revealing the moral hazard of subsidized flood insurance
Hurricane Katrina of 2005 : revealing the importance of coastal wetlands
Ruined lives : trouble rains down on minorities and the poor
Double-takes : charging taxpayers, twice
Conclusion : how law has hurt, how law can help.
Subjects
Genre/Form
History.
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