Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

Radio 4,29 Aug 2015,58 mins

New Orleans: The Crescent and the Shadow

Archive on 4

Available for over a year

Harry Shearer lives in New Orleans. In this Archive on Four he looks back at what has happened in the city during the ten years since the devastating floods of 2005. Harry reveals evidence which shows that the levees broke due to poor engineering and should have been able to withstand the rising waters caused by Hurricane Katrina. Rather than being solely a natural disaster, he looks at how man-made errors created a situation which quickly spiralled out of control. Harry also reveals what happened once the floodwaters had subsided. Did people come back to the city? Was the housing adequate for their needs? And have lessons been learned? Harry Shearer in the city of New Orleans, whose spirit and culture have successfully withstood almost three centuries of disasters.

Programme Website
More episodes