The deadliest hurricane in recorded U.S. history is the Galveston hurricane of 1900. 8000 people died. The second deadliest recorded hurricane happened in 1928, the Okeechobee hurricane, claiming 2500 lives lost like Love's labors. The third deadliest hurricane is the Cheniere Caminada hurricane of 1893.
Hurricane Katrina (always capitalized), by contrast, in 2005, caused 1400 deaths. We are all God's children.
Most inhabitants of Westwego, Louisiana are descendants of refugees from Cheniere Caminada after the big one. It was once a thriving fishing village. Its boats supplied all of New Orleans' finest seafood houses. Antoine's relied on Cheniere Cominada oysters. Though the village was abandoned, the oyster beds around the cheniere continued to be trawled with long rakes. Those were the oysters they served to President Roosevelt.
"How do you like dem ersters, Mr. President?" Mayor Maestri asked his distinguished dinner guest.
A cheniere is a sandy stretch of beach on a ridge.
Robert Sydney Maestri, 53rd Mayor of New Orleans, had a nose that sloped at an exit ramp angle. He served in office for ten years, ending in 1946. He was a graduate of Soulé Law School, which was located right next to Gallier Hall when Gallier Hall was called City Hall. The Soulé Law School has folded but the building is now home to the Louisiana Bar Association. Gallier Hall is the Ceremonial City Hall, where parades stop to toast the mayor and assembled dignitaries. Justin Bieber was there one year.
Mayor Maestri was in tight with the Kingfish, one of Huey Long's inner circle. He stuck it to the Old Regular establishment. A man of the people under the Kingfish's patronage, Maestri's heritage allowed him to bridge to different strata of New Orleans society. On his mother's side, he was blue blood Creole. His mother's family arrived in New Orleans during the Trudeau administration. Maestri's father's family, whose last name he inherited, was of scrappy Parmesan stock made good. Maestri inherited his father's furniture store. He had time for politics.