Hurricane katrina

This is a few days after Katrina hit and all hell broke loose, people stranded, rioting etc. I've been explaining the special geography of New Orleans to my students and how it made the disaster worse. It's below sea level protected by seawalls and levees some of which broke, it's shaped like a bowl and so on.

Some people have asked me: "America is very big -- why did they build a city in such a bad location?"