Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005-2006 - (Page 35)

In April 1719, when New Orleans was a year old, founder Jean Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, reported that Mississippi floods were drowning the settlement under half a foot of water. hurricanes in 1860. The first, on August 8, swept 20 feet of water into Plaquemines Parish, while the third, on October 2, hit New Orleans to the west. Plaquemines, St. Bernard and Barataria were inundated as usual, while Lake Pontchartrain surged ashore destroying some 20 settlements and washing away part of the Jackson railroad. The Old and New Basin canals topped their banks, once again sending water into back portions of the city as people fled their homes. A levee break on Bayou St. John threatened the area behind the French Quarter; on the other side of Canal Street another break threatened the center of town. This slow moving storm threatened flooding for days, and a report in the Daily Picayune voiced “fear that our record of disaster will yet have another chapter added to it.” Mississippi River ravages evees have mostly held back the Mississippi, but occasionally crevasses have sent water coursing into New Orleans. On May 5, 1816, a the levee gave way at the McCarty plantation in present-day Carrollton, and within days water was filling the back portion of the city. Water reached St. Charles Avenue, extended to Canal and Decatur streets, flooded the French Quarter and the Faubourg Marigny to Dauphine Street. Only the highest parts of the natural levee remained dry. As attempts to block the crevasse failed, city officials provided housing and other necessities to those escaping their homes. To drain floodwater, a wide trench was dug through the Metairie Ridge as well as channels connecting Bayou St. John and the lake, which, coupled with a rapid drop in the river's level, allowed the city to soon dry out. On May 4, 1849 the Mississippi broke through the levee at the Sauvé plantation at River Ridge. Within four days water reached the New Basin Canal; a week later it crossed St. Charles at Napoleon Street; and 10 days after that was at Canal and Dauphine streets with Baronne Street flooded. The French Quarter had water to Bienville and Dauphine streets. The flood rose at the rate of about one foot every 36 hours allowing those who had to abandon their houses time to do so. Fish, eels and snakes swam through the streets. Wooden foot crossings floated away. Skiffs and sailboats were docked along Rampart Street to ferry passengers through the flooded districts. Much business still went on as stores, banks and theaters operated, although the deluge lapped not far from their doorsteps. As the flood approached the New Basin Canal, Uptown residents threatened to cut its levee to prevent water buildup on their side. People from the opposite side of the canal, fearing for their own homes, threatened to prevent this by armed force, but the levee soon collapsed, allowing water to reach the Old Basin Canal. Here the upper levee broke, diverting water down the canal to Bayou St. John and the lake. The lower levee held keeping the flood from penetrating any farther into the city. The flood lapped over what is now Old Metairie. Uptown, water reached St. Charles, and what is now Broadmoor was then a nine-foot deep lake. These areas were mostly uninhabited in 1849, but still 220 city blocks were flooded and 12,000 people forced to evacuate. To plug the crevasse, pilings were driven into the break followed by stacking thousands of sand bags. This took six weeks to complete until at last a large floodgate was lowered. Trenches were cut through the Metairie Ridge to channel water toward the lake, and by mid June the (continued on page 38) L In spite of flooding, the collection of mail continued in New Orleans as depicted by Alfred R. Waud from Every Saturday, July 8, 1871. Winter 2005-06/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 35

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005-2006

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005 Contents Letters Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Louisiana State Museum After Katrina: “It’s time somebody woke us us up.” Missing New Orleans On Perilous Ground The Buildings of Louisiana (Architectural History by Karen Kingsley) Historic New Orleans Collection Louisiana Association of Museums Back to New Orleans Diary of a Displaced Person Jazz Notes (Music History by Bruce Raeburn) Cradle of the Stars The Terrible and the Brave Bookstand (Book Review by Thomas Uskali) Sound Advice (Music Review by Ben Sandmel) Forum (Commentary by James Lee Burke)

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005-2006

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