Hurricane Betsy was a powerful hurricane of the 1965 Atlantic hurricane season, causing enormous damage in the Bahamas, Florida and Louisiana. While it made its first landfall at Key Largo in Florida, Betsy did its greatest damage after the second landfall on September 9 near the mouth of the Mississippi River, causing significant flooding of the waters of Lake Pontchartrain into New Orleans. Seventy-six people were killed by “Billion-Dollar Betsy” but I survived.
Izzy Hannah is my name and I moved to the Ninth Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1949 and bought my lot for $200. Despite the fact that the Ninth Ward was mostly African American we were doing good before Betsy and we all worked hard to keep the neighborhood up. Working as a hairstylist, …show more content…
The Baton Rouge weather bureau, operating under emergency power, warned residents to get extra food that would not have to be cooked, or with little preparation. They also warned residents to store a water supply, have flashlights, or other emergency light sources, and keep them at the ready. In addition, residents were told to fill the gasoline tanks of their cars, and check to make sure their battery powered radios had full charged batteries in them, and to sec,ure small boats immediately.Water was coming from the direction of the levee and consequently we had to pile in my husbands boat. Powerful currents caused it to take all night to get to the next block by boat. We were able to finally take shelter in the top story of a friend’s house but the water kept …show more content…
I believed the levee had been blown up to save other parts of the city, but no one ever admitted that. In fact, the Army Corps of Engineers’ Hurricane Protection Program, which came into existence as a result of Betsy, built new levees for New Orleans that were both taller and made of stronger material. I worked hard after Betsy to fight for urban renewal, nevertheless it was difficult and there was too much commitment to travel and attend meetings. All the grant money went toward building homes and other investments in the community. The community leaders got rich, disappointingly I
Izzy Hannah is my name and I moved to the Ninth Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1949 and bought my lot for $200. Despite the fact that the Ninth Ward was mostly African American we were doing good before Betsy and we all worked hard to keep the neighborhood up. Working as a hairstylist, …show more content…
The Baton Rouge weather bureau, operating under emergency power, warned residents to get extra food that would not have to be cooked, or with little preparation. They also warned residents to store a water supply, have flashlights, or other emergency light sources, and keep them at the ready. In addition, residents were told to fill the gasoline tanks of their cars, and check to make sure their battery powered radios had full charged batteries in them, and to sec,ure small boats immediately.Water was coming from the direction of the levee and consequently we had to pile in my husbands boat. Powerful currents caused it to take all night to get to the next block by boat. We were able to finally take shelter in the top story of a friend’s house but the water kept …show more content…
I believed the levee had been blown up to save other parts of the city, but no one ever admitted that. In fact, the Army Corps of Engineers’ Hurricane Protection Program, which came into existence as a result of Betsy, built new levees for New Orleans that were both taller and made of stronger material. I worked hard after Betsy to fight for urban renewal, nevertheless it was difficult and there was too much commitment to travel and attend meetings. All the grant money went toward building homes and other investments in the community. The community leaders got rich, disappointingly I