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French Foothold
A Frenchman visits what was supposed to be New Orleans. He says that all the land is flooded in the Spring time and that he does not understand how people will live there. -
Into American Hands
Thomas Jefferson buys 828,000 square miles of land, including New Orleans, for a price of $15 million. Thomas Jefferson bought the land from Napoleon Bonaparte. -
Levees-Only Policy
Engineers decide that the best way to keep the Mississippi from flooding is by keeping it in a single channel with levees on each side. -
Spillways and Sprawl
Congress spreads the Flood Control Act which states that to calm the flooding, the people must build reservoirs and spillways. -
Hurricane Season
Hurricane Betsy occured, causing several dozen deaths and $1 billion in damage. -
Modern Times
Hurricane Katrina became a category 4 storm and killed more than 1,000 people, left 100,000 homeless, and caused hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.