BOOK BITS - HOW DRAGONFLIES HELPED KATRINA SURVIVORS

Book - "The Great Deluge" by Douglas Brinkley

 

The history of Hurricane Katrina and the flood of New Orleans and the Louisiana  and Mississippi Gulf Coast in 2005. 

And one book bit in this 700 page book:

 

 

How Dragonflies came to the aid of mosquito-tormented hurricane survivors.

 

 

By Tracy W.

In the aftermath of the hurricane rats were everywhere - big, aggressive rats.  There was nothing people could do about them.  Rats had managed to survive in enough numbers to make life even more miserable for human survivors. 

 

But mosquitoes were worse.

 

Louisiana mosquitoes were more than a nuisance.  They were the carriers of disease, particularly West Nile Virus.  This virus causes inflammation of the brain and can be lethal. 

 

Symptoms include swollen lymph glands, high fever, and local paralysis - all that within weeks of being infected. 

 

The big storm and flood caused by Hurricane Katrina had peaked on Monday morning.  Survivors could be found precariously hanging on to roofs or anything that could keep them from drowning. 

 

They were wet, hot, tired, hungry, thirsty, scared, traumatized, and in many cases sick as well.  Those who needed regular medication had to do without.  Being tormented by mosquitoes was the last straw. 

 

But then dragonflies made their appearance. 

 

"They blanketed New Orleans, hovering just inches above the floodwater, eating every mosquito in sight."

 

Dragonflies are regarded as  "insatiable predators, usually found in ponds and bayous. 

 

"Contrary to the popular misperception, they don't bite or sting humans. 

 

"Female dragonflies lay their eggs (nymphs) in water or on floating plants. 

 

"After Katrina their eggs were deposited in the floodwater.  Then aquatic larvae hatched. 

 

"From then on, they started devouring mosquitoes, dive bombing them with aerial acrobatics. 

 

"With a nearly 360-degree field of vision, dragonflies can both stay stationary and soar to speeds of 60 mph (they are the fastest insects in the world)."

 

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Author Douglas Brinkley also tells the story of the so-called "Mormon Air Force". 

 

"Salt Lake City has a monument to the seagulls, which in 1848 swooped down from the sky to devour a swarm of locusts, thereby saving Utah crops."

 

Someday, he muses, New Orleans should likewise honor the dragonfly. 

Source:  The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley, Page 299. 

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More on dragonflies:

General information -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonfly

http://www.dragonfly-site.com/

Photo Gallery of Dragonflies - http://dragonflywebsite.com/gallery/index.htm

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More on West Nile Virus - http://www.cdc.gov/westnile/index.html


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