Katrina's arrival on the Gulf Coast was a long time in coming. But it was assured. Since 1965, when Hurricane Betsy struck New Orleans, breached a levee, and flooded part of the city, everyone was waiting and talking about when the Big One would strike and do even more damage. Katrina was that hurricane, predictedand imagined before she struck, but so much worse in her reality.

Holding Back the Sea is about the consequences of ignoring the warning signs that nature provides and the struggle to convince the rest of the country that South Louisiana lay in the path of...