Media has been reporting lately on the revised death toll from Hurricane Katrina. Over the last year, the media have printed articles on various approaches to preventing such a catastrophe in the future.
Author Cornelia Dean, in Against the Tide, writes that more and more of the population in the U. S. is moving to coastal regions. The author says that all of this new development is destroying the buffer between the ocean and land, causing more loss of lives and property.
To stress his point, he gives several examples. One is the community of Galveston, Texas, which is built on a sandy barrier island. In 1900, there was a devastating hurricane that killed 6,000 people.
Another location discussed is Westhampton Beach, located on Long Island. This narrow strip of land was effected by storms that ripped through there in 1991, splitting the community in two. The town (with the help of federal money) began to built groins to restore the land and the beaches. This created additional problems.
Cornelia Dean mentions various solutions that communities have used to try to control nature. Ultimately, she keeps coming back to the conclusion that we really cannot.
Against the Tide is on the second floor under the number 333.917 DEA.
c Waterloo Public Library 2007
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