Other Catastrophes

New Orleans has had a number of catastrophes besides Hurricane Katrina.  Here are some of them..


Hurricane Betsy, also know as "billion dollar Betsy" due to it being the costliest hurricane ever.  Betsy hit new Orleans just to the west in 1965; this storm did not hit them directly.  This storm was categorized as a category three hurricane taking 76 lives.  The hurricane slammed into New Orleans making landfall near Grand Isle in the dark of night.  The surge pushed into Lake Pontchartrain, up to the Mississippi River and into the Industrial Canal, causing major flooding in the 9th Ward, St. Bernard Parish, 7th Ward, Gentilly and parts of new Orleans East. This storm started the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Hurricane Protection Program.  The corps built the new levees for the city that were built to sustain a hurricane.  However during Hurricane Katrina these levees failed.


Here is some footage of Billion Dollar Betsy



The Great Fire of 1788 destroyed most of the french quarter.  It destroyed over 800 homes and 856 of 1,100 structures in New Orleans coming from the south central french quarter from burgundy to Chatters street.  The fire started at the home of army treasurer Don Vincente on December 8, 1788 around 1:30 pm less than a block from Jackson square.  The fire started from a lit candle that ended up catching drapes in the house on fire.  Within just five hours of the fire starting it consumed almost the whole city.  It destroyed all major buildings in the city including the church, municipal building, army barracks, armory, and jail.  Colonial Governor Esteban Rodriquez Miro set up tents for the homeless. We still call the French Quarter the French Quarter however most of the architecture is no longer French due to the fire.
























Because the fire happened on Good Friday the priest refused to ring the church bells to alarm the city.  That along with the winds is what caused the fire to spread so fast.  They believe if the bells would have been rung the fire wouldn't have consumed the whole city.  New Orleans is a city familiar with disasters, however they always pick themselves back up.

The great fire spared only one French building in the French Quarter, that building is the Ursula Convent.  It is believed that the fire spared this building because the nuns prayed to God to protect them and placed a statue in the window for protection.  At the last minute the wind changed direction and the fire spared the convent.

Here's a picture of the statue they placed in the window for protection


Here is a link to the Ursula Convent page if you are ever interested in touring the convent.

References:

http://www.frenchcreoles.com/CreoleCulture/creoleexperience/new%20orleans%20fire.html

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