I just finished this book. It was particularly intense reading experience because New Orleans was once again on the news everyday as Hurricane Gustav approached the city. So I was reading of the many horrific experiences from three yeas ago as another hurricane was bearing down on the still greatly damaged city. One thing I couldn't believe was how Ray Nagin could possibly still be mayor.
The book was full of heroic stories and also truly evil people taking advantage of the crises. There was also a tremendous number of totally incompetent political lackeys running FEMA and other government agencies. After reading this detailed examination of that awful event I realized we were only seeing a tiny portion of the tragedy as it unfolded on television. It was actually worse than I ever imagined. Much worse.
For example the "toxic gumbo" of contaminated water that flooded the city is vividly described throughout the book. It is completely unimaginable how that must have smelled let alone getting that disease ridden scum in your body or infecting a cut.
This book illustrates the unpreparedness of authorities before Katrina and was interesting to compare with the ongoing response to Gustav. Also interesting to see the different behaviors of the politicians threes years after the Katrina experience.
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