Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans: Pages 30-48

by Don Brown
This acclaimed nonfiction book tells the story of Hurricane Katrina in graphic form.

This list covers vocabulary from pages 30–48.

Here are links to our lists for the work: List 1, List 2, List 3

Here is a link to our list for Unwanted by Don Brown.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. generator
    engine that converts mechanical energy into electricity
    But Mayor Nagin has failed to fully stock it with enough generator fuel, food, and bedding.
  2. scour
    rub hard or scrub
    Although the roof is reportedly built to withstand two-hundred-MPH winds, it shreds beneath Katrina's one-hundred-MPH scouring.
  3. choppy
    rough with small waves
    Meanwhile, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officers launch their small, flat-bottom boats into the choppy waters and lashing winds to make house-to-house rescues.
  4. hoist
    raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help
    Coast Guard men and women take to the air and water, hoisting people out of the flood and off roofs.
  5. complex
    a whole structure made up of interconnected structures
    The complex of large meeting rooms and halls is closed.
  6. loot
    steal goods; take as spoils
    Shops and businesses are looted, sometimes by people in need of supplies, and other times by thieves who are quick to take advantage of streets without police protection.
  7. mayhem
    violent and needless disturbance
    The mayhem encourages more than a few police officers to join the looting.
  8. stifling
    characterized by oppressive heat and humidity
    People hiding in the Superdome, huddling in the convention center, trapped on roofs, melt in the stifling weather.
  9. breach
    an opening, especially a gap in a dike or fortification
    Water still washes into the city. Some of [the] levee breaches have grown.
  10. stagnant
    not circulating or flowing
    Now the water has grown stagnant and black.
Created on Mon Jul 14 15:51:03 EDT 2025 (updated Mon Jul 14 16:08:23 EDT 2025)

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