Uptown New Orleans - Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Main article: Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans

Like most of the oldest parts of the city developed before 1900 on the city's higher ground, the majority of Uptown had very little flooding from Katrina For this reason, the portion of New Orleans along the riverfront stretching from the Bywater to Carrollton and including about half of Uptown was sometimes called "the Sliver by the River" and "Isle of Denial." High water did affect some portions of Uptown, especially the areas closer to Claiborne Avenue, in some places severely. While 20th-century floods such as from the 1909 Hurricane and the May 8, 1995 Louisiana Flood affected Uptown, the post-Katrina flooding was worse than anything seen since Sauvé's Crevasse in 1849. In these areas many old homes were built on piers 0.9 to 1.2 meters (3 to 4 feet) above street level to insure against the occasional disastrous flood. These piers proved to be insufficiently raised, taking on another 30 to 60 cm (1 to 2 feet) of water above their elevation. However, the area on the riverside of Saint Charles, and a varying amount further back, escaped flooding, being the single largest section of New Orleans to escape the flood.

Since it was spared the levee disaster flood, for months early in the post-Katrina recovery, Magazine Street became a commercial hub of New Orleans, with many businesses owned and run by locals reopening before chain stores in the Metro area.