Natural disasters differ from unnatural disasters not so much in their causes or in their effects but primarily in our reaction to them. In natural disasters nature plays the role of a catalyst. Yet nature does not provide a convenient enemy to rally against and attack in retribution. This in part explains why, unlike the social and political unity that followed the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, violence and political turmoil ensued in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Colten, C. E. (2005). An unnatural metropolis: Wresting New Orleans from nature. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press.
2.
Dean, C. & Revkin, A. C. (2005, August 30). After centuries of ‘controlling’ land, Gulf residents learn who’s really the boss. The New York Times, p. A-1.
3.
Kelman, A. (2003). A river and its city: The nature of landscape in New Orleans. Berkeley, CA: University of California
