Enduring a hardscrabble existence as the children of alcoholic and absent parents, four siblings from a coastal Mississippi town prepare their meager stores for the arrival of Hurricane Katrina while struggling with such challenges as a teen pregnancy and a dying litter of prize pups.

The story of a Latin American science fiction writer and the lives her lost manuscript unites decades later in post-Katrina New Orleans. In 1929 in New Orleans, a Dominican immigrant named Adana Moreau writes a science fiction novel. The novel earns rave reviews, and Adana begins a sequel. Then she falls gravely ill. Just before she dies, she destroys the only copy of the manuscript. Decades later in Chicago, Saul Drower is cleaning out his dead grandfather's...

Barry's family tries to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina hits their home in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, but when Barry's little sister gets terribly sick, they are forced to stay home and wait out the storm.

La familia de Barry trata de evacuarse antes que el huracán Katrina azote su hogar en Nueva Orleans, pero la hermanita de Barry se enferma y tienen que quedarse a esperar que pase la tormenta. Al principio, Katrina no parece tan terrible como dijo el pronóstico, pero durante la noche los diques se rompen y el mundo de Barry se ve literalmente destrozado. La inundación lo arrastra lejos de su familia. ¿Podrá sobrevivir a la tormenta del siglo......

Chronicles the devastating impact Hurricane Katrina had on the city of New Orleans, describing the experiences of the city's residents who were forced to endure dangerous conditions as the city's leaders struggled to maintain order and begin the enormous rebuilding process.