Facing the Flood

Departments of English are generally known for the storms within and their failure to calm the seas with minimal casualties. Even in times of fair weather, they often appear rudderless. What can be said about English can at times be said about other disciplines. What happens to a department, really a university, when external forces completely overwhelm internal ones? On August 29, 2005, the flood in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina laid waste to university campuses in New Orleans. What this paper will do is to indicate how it affected a single department of English, what steps were taken toward recovery, and how using the strengths of the discipline could have carried faculty and students through the waters to higher, more secure ground.