A new book offers readers a glimpse into the personal experiences of the man who headed Mississippi’s relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.
The recently released book, “America’s Great Storm: Leading Through Hurricane Katrina,” is former Gov. Haley Barbour’s personal account of the periods before and immediately after the hurricane, as well as the year that followed. Katrina is the nation’s costliest and third-deadliest natural disaster.
Barbour and co-author Jere Nash, a Jackson-based Democratic political consultant, interviewed more than 45 key people — including local, state and federal officials, as well as private citizens — who were instrumental in the state’s recovery.
Barbour will kick off his statewide book tour Saturday with an appearance at 2 p.m. at the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson, followed by a book signing and reception at Turnrow Books in Greenwood from 6 to 8 p.m.
“As we approach the 10-year anniversary of Katrina, I look forward to visiting with many of the same individuals who made the Mississippi Katrina story unique,” said Barbour. “Our state was forever changed by America’s great storm, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to tell the Mississippi story to readers across the country. I hope I do this wonderful story justice.”
Barbour had only been governor for 22 months before the Aug. 29, 2005, disaster that left 238 people dead, 67 missing and billions of dollars in damage on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Overall, the hurricane and its subsequent floods killed at least 1,833 people.
“Our recovery from Katrina is also the story of strong, resilient, self-reliant people who were knocked flat but then got back on their feet, hitched up their britches, and went to work helping themselves and helping their neighbors,” Barbour writes in the introduction of his book. “My mother taught Wiley and Jeppie, my two older brothers, and me that crises tend to bring out the best in people, and although there were, of course, exceptions in the weeks and months following Katrina’s drive across Mississippi, I saw Mama’s observation demonstrated over and over and over again.”
One of the chapters focuses on Barbour’s behind-the-scenes account of the state working to convince Congress and the White House to support rebuilding efforts with a multibillion-dollar disaster appropriation. Another chapter details the special legislative session that allowed onshore casino gaming in order to bring back more than 13,000 jobs.
Barbour uses a majority of one chapter to tell how the state reopened every public school before any public school in New Orleans could receive students. Another chapter deals with the role of the recovery commission chaired by Jim Barksdale.
Barbour details the assistance Mississippi received from the federal government, other state governments, businesses, churches, nonprofit organizations, private citizens and the volunteers who helped rebuild housing, transportation and education infrastructure of south Mississippi and the Gulf Coast.
“During the first five years nearly one million volunteers came to the coast and south Mississippi to help,” Barbour said.
The final chapter of “America’s Great Storm” analyzes the lessons in leadership and strategies Barbour used when tasked with leading in a crisis.
The book features a foreword written by Ricky Mathews, president of NOLA Media Group, who was the president and publisher of the Biloxi newspaper the Sun Herald at the time Katrina hit the coast.
“After Katrina, Haley (Barbour) was a man on a mission,” he writes. “And if a man is measured by his ability to respond to the worst of times, we may live our whole lives without seeing another elected leader called by such a challenge and answering in such a way.”
• Contact Ruthie Robison at 581-7233 or rrobison@gwcommonwealth.com.
