Path of Destruction: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms

At 5:02 A.M. on August 29, 2005, Power Went Out in the Superdome. Not long after, wind ripped giant white rubber sheets off the roof and sent huge shards of debris flying toward Uptown. Rivulets of rainwater began finding their way down through the ceiling, dripping and pouring into the stands, the mezzanine, and the football field. Without ventilation, the air began to get gamy with the smell of sweat and garbage. The bathrooms stopped working. Many people slept; others waited, mostly in silence.

John McQuaid and Mark Schleifstein wrote the New Orleans Times-Picayune's award-winning series 'Washing Away,' the definitive account of the Gulf Coast's grave hurricane risks. They were also the lead reporters on a series about global fisheries that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1997. Schleifstein abandoned his Lakeview home in the flood but remains in the New Orleans area.