Time: Hurricane Katrina: The Storm That Changed America (Paperback)

~ Editors of Time Magazine (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

DESCRIPTION: On Sept. 2, 2005, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin issued a "desperate S.O.S." His city, one of America’s most historic and gracious urban centers, had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Now 80% of it lay underwater, while some citizens huddled on rooftops waiting for rescue, and others turned the flooded streets into canals of anarchy. In the first decade of the 21st century, despair, disease and death had transformed a great American city into a scene of third-world privation, even as heroic rescue workers battled to save lives, restore order and aid the suffering.

Now Time chronicles the story of the greatest natural disaster in U.S. history in Hurricane Katrina, An American Tragedy. Here, in stunning pictures and gripping first-hand accounts, is the terrible tale of Katrina’s deadly wrath and savage aftermath. Here is America’s Gulf Coast — from New Orleans to Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi — in ruins. Here are the struggling survivors and their valiant rescuers, the looters and the police who fought to control them, the homeless refugees who poured across the southeast and the resourceful agencies that took them in.

It is an epic tale, told as only Time can tell it. Award-winning pictures reveal the scope of the disaster. Oral histories offer unforgettable accounts of nature’s power and man’s resourcefulness. Illuminating graphics show how hurricanes form — and why New Orleans flooded. Powerful reporting puts readers on the scene, while insightful analysis explores the questions left in Katrina’s wake: could the tragedy have been prevented, and why was aid so late to arrive?

Moving and informative, sweeping in scope and ringing with the voices of those who were there, Hurricane Katrina, An American Tragedy is the definitive account of a disaster that will haunt Americans for decades to come.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Time (November 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933405139
• ISBN-13: 978-1933405131
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #475,156 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hurricane Katrina--an overview, December 16, 2005

By	destiny morna "destiny21" (louisiana) - See all my reviews

While i agree with other reviewers that this book didn't present all the cities/towns that were affected, hurricane katrina was just so massive that i don't think any one book would be able to do it justice. Having said that, this book does attempt to give an overview of the destruction that occured in MS/LA..particularly new orleans.

As a new orleans resident myself, i missed most of the early coverage due to power outages that occured as far away as baton rouge and jackson, MS. Having this book is a good reminder of what the nation saw and what the gulf coast lived through.

The introduction was written by new orleans native wynton marsalis then goes to moving pictures of the disaster presented in a time line fashion--from when the storm first came ashore on aug 29 until weeks into the tragedy.

It also offers graphical maps of the levee breaks, flood zones of new orleans showing almost the entire city underwater, and even myths that occured during this hectic time.

It devouts a small section to gulf coast MS which was horribly affected as well and a small section on the rescuers, volunteers and aftermath of the storm and the future of the gulf coast. The last pages were about hurricane rita and its affects on the region.

This is a great book for a concise overview of this nationwide disaster. 5% of the proceeds go to red-cross relief efforts which i think should be higher. All in all, a worthwhile purchase...many of the pictures will be scenes that bring a tear to your eye and stay with you.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Past date to raise money, but still an important read, April 24, 2006

By	Potty Mouthed Librarian (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews

The photos and accounts delivered in this Time representation of Hurricane Katrina are invaluable. Bodies floating by houses, people trapped in their attics, the anger and frustration at the Superdome, the hope and good faith of the people searching for survivors. All of this is captured by great photojournalists and poignant captions. While some reviewers feel this book focuses on only two cities' ordeals with hurricane aftermath, I think the book captures what was happening in the worst cases. Having been published about a month after the occurance, you can leave the job of chronicling the entire event to a sociologist or someone more apt to turn a profit rather than raise money for the Red Cross. This book was published so quickly that I found many typos, ("Sept. 29th" instead of "Aug. 29th" was printed way too many times, and "kids" instead of "kinds", things that spell check wouldn't catch, but an editor should have). With that in mind, I think the goal was raising money and portraying what this country let happen to it's poor and elderly. Citizens don't build levees, governments do, and this government failed.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Time: Hurricane Katrina: The Storm That Changed America, February 24, 2006

By	Sandra K. Whittington (Hammond, LA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having lived through the Hurricane Katrina (I worked through it at one of only 3 surviving hospitals in metro New Orleans), the pictures are so profound. It comes as close to representing whatI experienced as can be represented by pictures. I highly recommend. This is one of two books that I've found that paint an accurate picture.