Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005-2006 - (Page 42)

One of the most indelible images of the flooded Lower Ninth Ward after Hurricane Betsy in 1965 was of Flood Street photographed by G. E. Arnold for the Times-Picayune. Work began in 1928 to reclaim the New Orleans lakefront. Extending about three quarters of a mile into the lake, this reclaimed land mass has an eight-foot seawall to keep lake water out. This barrier can also become a dam by holding water in on low-lying land to the south. Prior to construction of the seawall, urban development in New Orleans halted south of the ridges. However, new subdivisions to the north like Lakeview and Gentilly appeared in the early 20th century. Cypress swamps were transformed into neighborhoods by the late 1950s as the city reached the shores of the lake. By the 1920s, suburban development was also taking hold in East Jefferson Parish where a lakefront levee and pumps were being built, but such progress was put to the test in 1947 when another hurricane struck. In New Orleans proper, a break in the Florida Avenue Canal levee at Tennessee Street put 10 feet of water into the streets of the Lower Ninth Ward, but it was quickly patched. Water went over the west side of the Industrial Canal, flooding the area between the Gentilly and Esplanade ridges, while in the east Chef Menteur was flooded. The most serious flooding happened in East Jefferson Parish in the new subdivisions north of Metairie Road. A levee break at Bucktown sent floodwater as far as Metairie Road and west to Airline Highway. Moisant Airport went under 2 feet of water. A few blocks north of Metairie Road, water stood six feet deep, while at the lakefront it topped 10 feet. Rescuers in boats rushed to save people from their houses and lead them to safety at the Municipal Auditorium. Lake levels quickly subsided, and to help channel water out a break was dug in the 17th Street Canal along with several cuts in the lake levee. New Orleans did not experience serious flooding again until hurricane Betsy struck on September 9, 1965. Flooding from the Industrial Canal entered Pontchartrain Park and north Gentilly, while the area that had flooded in 1947 between the Gentilly and Esplanade ridges did so again. The east was still undeveloped, but Lake Forest flooded while subdivisions along Chef Menteur stayed dry. The worst flooding came from a breach in the Industrial Canal levee which sent as much as twelve feet of water into the Lower Ninth Ward north of St. Claude. This flowed downriver to join the storm surge, submerging much of Arabi and sections of Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish. Tens of thousands were left homeless. New Orleans was skirted by Hurricane Camille in 1969 which decimated the Mississippi coast and flooded Plaquemines Parish under 20 feet of water. Betsy, Camille and earlier events were rehearsals for Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. Flood lines of 2005 near St. Charles, the French Quarter and St. Claude are reminders of 1816. The water-filled basins of Broadmoor and Old Metairie are not far removed from 1849. Waters surrounding Charity Hospital and encroaching on the French Quarter were repeats of 1871. Flooding in Lakeview, Gentilly, Eastern New Orleans, and the Lower Ninth Ward show where there were once swamplands until levees and flood walls were thought to have made development safe. Hurricane Katrina — along with our diminishing coast line — reminds us that the Crescent City rests on perilous ground. LCV John T. Magill is curator of The Historic New Orleans Collection. All images are courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection unless otherwise indicated. 42 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\Winter 2005-06

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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