Words Whispered in Water - Sandy Rosenthal
Schedule
Wed Aug 27 2025 at 06:00 pm to 07:30 pm
UTC-05:00Location
Octavia Books | New Orleans, LA
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Please join us with Levees.Org founder Sandy Rosenthal for a presentation and signing celebrating the new Anniversary Edition of her book, WORDS WHISPERED IN WATER: Why the Levees Broke in Hurricane Katrina.Words Whispered in Water is a rare story about how a tiny woman prevailed against a mammoth federal agency and won. When steel flood-walls built with inherent engineering mistakes broke in New Orleans, the responsible party, the Army Corps of Engineers, went into full-time damage control mode, but in the chaotic aftermath, Sandy Rosenthal uncovered evidence that the Army Corps had made egregious design mistakes in their steel floodwalls fifteen years before they buckled and failed, causing hundreds of deaths.
2020 Nautilus Silver Winner
#1 New Release in Civil Engineering & Environmental, Urban & City Planning, Development, and Disaster Relief
In the aftermath of one of the worst disasters in US history, WORDS WHISPERED IN WATER tells the story of one woman’s fight—against all odds—to expose a mammoth federal agency—and win. This anniversary edition, released twenty years after the devastating storm, includes a brand new foreword by Jordan Chariton.
It’s a horror story, a mystery, and a David-and-Goliath story all in one. In 2005, the entire world watched as a major US city was nearly wiped off the map. The levees ruptured and New Orleans drowned. But while newscasters attributed the New Orleans flood to “natural catastrophes” and other types of disasters, citizen investigator Sandy Rosenthal set out to expose the true culprit and compel the media and government to tell the truth. This is the true story.
When the protective steel flood-walls broke, the Army Corps of Engineers—with cooperation from big media—turned the blame on natural disasters. In the chaotic aftermath, Rosenthal uncovers the US corruption and big media at its root. Follow this New Orleans hero as she exposes the federal agency’s egregious design errors and eventually changes the narrative surrounding the New Orleans flood. In this engaging and revealing tale of man versus nature and man versus man, Words Whispered in Water proves that the power of a single individual is alive and well.
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Sandy Rosenthal is an American civic activist and founder of Levees.Org, an organization dedicated to educating the American public about levee failures and flooding in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Most recently, Rosenthal was awarded Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year from Tulane University for her efforts. She is a founding member of the mentoring program Laurel Eagles. When she’s not advocating for safe levees, she’s practicing with her Mardi Gras parading group, the Divine Revelers of Terpsichore.
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Where is it happening?
Octavia Books, 513 Octavia Street,New Orleans, Louisiana, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
