What effect did the Great Flood of 1927 have on New Orleans?
It had little effect on the city. They dodged a bullet. I don’t know how many people really understood what had happened. They could go to the levee and see the river was up and the river was going down, but I don’t know how many of them really understood why or what was behind it. It seems to me the city’s always been vulnerable. The pumps go out for any minor reason. The pumps go out because they got flooded, and it seems that you could build waterproof pumps or build them high enough that you’d always be able to have some pumping capacity. But maybe there’s a technical reason for that . . . I think they relied on Providence more than anything else. Q: We just talked about a technical legacy. Was there a cultural legacy left by the flood in New Orleans? A: I can’t imagine what it would be. I can’t think of anything. I mean, there were some good songs that were written about it, but I don’t think it had very much of an effect. Q: Greenville, Miss., was hit much harder. It had signific
