Doug MacCash was a full-time art critic for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans when weather forecasters began predicting that a potentially deadly Category 5 hurricane was heading towards the city. So when he volunteered to ride out the storm in the newspaper’s office and help with the coverage, he wasn’t sure what to expect.
But on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, just hours after the winds from Hurricane Katrina died down and out-of-town news stations began broadcasting that New Orleans had dodged the worst-case scenario, MacCash and a newspaper colleague would soon discover the shocking truth: the city’s protective levee system had been compromised, neighborhoods were quickly flooding and the city was heading for a major disaster.
“We were so unaware that I waited until 1:00 in the afternoon for my editor and friend James O’Byrne to finish editing for the next day’s paper,” MacCash said…