My Storm: Managing the Recovery of New Orleans in the Wake of Katrina

Cover

MY STORM THE CIT Y IN THE T WENT Y-FIRST CENTURY Eugenie L. Birch and Susan M. Wachter, Series Editors A complete list of books in the series is available from the publisher UNIvERSIT Y oF pENNSYLvANIA pRESS pHIL AdELpHIA EdwardJ.Blakely My Storm MANAGING THE RECOVERY OF NEW ORLEANS IN THE WAKE OF KATRINA FoREWoRd BY HENRY CISNERoS Copyright © 2012 University of pennsylvania press All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher. published by University of pennsylvania press philadelphia, pennsylvania 19104-4112 www.upenn.edu/pennpress printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-publication data Blakely, Edward James, 1938– My storm : managing the recovery of New orleans in the wake of Katrina / Edward J. Blakely. — 1st ed. p. cm. — (The city in the twenty-first century) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8122-4385-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Blakely, Edward James, 1938– 2. Hurricane Katrina, 2005. 3. disaster relief— Louisiana—New orleans. 4. Emergency management—Louisiana—New orleans. 5. Urban policy—Louisiana—New orleans. 6. City planning—Louisiana—New orleans. 7. New orleans (La.)—politics and government—21st century. I. Title. II. Series: The city in the twenty-first century. Hv636 2005 .N4 B53 2011 976.3’35064092—dc23 2011026052 [B] Azor Randolph was my maternal great grandfather who lived as a slave leaving the Randolph plantation in Georgia for freedom after the Civil War walking with his wife to California to find a new life. He lived well past 100 years, some say 107 others 113. He was my first hero. He was a horticulturalist, inventor and story teller. All of my family is grateful for the gifts of wisdom he bestowed on all of us. He taught us we can conquer anything we set our minds to and the future is only guaranteed to those that seek it—every day. This page intentionally left blank ...