Post Up: A Short History of “When the Levee Breaks”

Good morning, sleepy heads. Welcome back to school. I’ve been here forever, writing like a fiend. Still failing. Anyway, a reminder for those of you who are newer to Morphizm. Post Ups are heads-up on my spiels for Wired, which are daily entries, some more interesting than others. In advance of Hurricane Gustav and looking back at Hurricane Katrina, I found writing this one to be very interesting indeed.

A Short History of “When the Levee Breaks”
On Saturday, a million citizens fled Louisiana for safer ground, after Hurricane Gustav metamorphosed into a Category 4 hurricane in a mere 24 hours. It is scheduled to slam into the U.S. almost exactly three years after Hurricane Katrina did the same, visiting the kind of disaster dystopia one usually sees in film or music, most notably in the Led Zeppelin epic “When the Levee Breaks,” onto the Gulf coast.

When the levee breaks/I’ll have no place to stay, moaned Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin’s iteration of the increasingly popular song. Sure enough, according to the Associated Press, Louisiana authorities explain that there will be no shelter for those left behind or who choose to stay behind. It’s a familiar refrain for those caught up in this recurring environmental nightmare, perhaps more familiar than you think. MORE @ WIRED

WATCH: “When the Levee Breaks,” Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie

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