On August 24th, 2005 the National Hurricane Centre in Miami finally upgraded a developing tropical storm into hurricane Katrina. As we now know, Katrina went on to devastate one of the world's great cities, New Orleans, and to wreak similar havoc in nearby Biloxi and Gulf Port.
In a strange parallel on August 24th AD 79 a force of nature, the volcano Vesuvius, destroyed the Roman city of Pompeii and the nearby towns of Herculaneum and Stabii. We know what happened on that occasion because of an account that has been left to us by the historian Pliny the Younger who was nearby in his uncle's (Pliny the Elder's) villa at Misenum.
There are some interesting similarities between the destruction wrought by Vesuvius and Katrina. Both happened in the same week in August. Both destroyed three important urban centres. The events happened within empires that seemed to be at the apogee of their power but both were powerless against the forces of nature. Moreover, the responses of both the authorities and the people on the ground were remarkably similar.
The Bay of Naples was popular with the Romans. A few hundred miles south of the capital it had resorts, seaside villas, oyster beds and all kinds of attractions that drew the wealthy and fashionable of the empire.
The people of New Orleans had warning of the imminent arrival of Katrina but those of Pompeii had no idea of what they faced. There were some indications of the great disaster to come. Tremors had been felt in the weeks leading up to the eruption but these were common enough in the region. In AD 63 there had been a serious earthquake and 13 years later Pompeii and the surrounding towns were still recovering. Then in early August all of Pompeii's wells dried up but despite all of this, since Vesuvius had been dormant for generations, there seemed no reason to worry. Ironically, August 24th was the Vulcanalia, the festival of the Roman god of fire.
The volcano erupted early in the morning, showering the towns and the region with ash and rock. Smoke turned day into night. Very quickly the streets and alleyways were filled with ash and pumice up to three metres deep. Those with sense started to flee and probably lived but many others felt that the eruption would soon cease and they stayed on, presumably thinking that after the initial explosion the worst was over and they should hang on to protect their homes and properties. As with New Orleans, those who remained died, either by asphyxiation or they were overwhelmed when the erupting volcanic column collapsed sending a pyroclastic surge, an avalanche of superheated gas, ash, and rock, crashing down the mountain at more than 100km/hour.
As happened in New Orleans, the first official response was slow. Pliny the Elder was the most senior Roman official in the region. He observed the beginnings of the disaster from his villa across the Bay of Naples. He was told at 7am that a great cloud in the shape of a pine had appeared in the sky. So, according to his nephew, "he had taken his time in the sun, his cold bath, eaten, had his nap, and was at work'. Eventually when it was clear that the situation was serious, he ordered galleys and headed towards the disaster. His boat ended up being stranded on the coast near Stabii and it seems that he was overcome by toxic fumes and died.
Excavations have verified much of Pliny the Younger's account. They began in the early 18th century and have continued ever since. In 1860 Giuseppe Fiorelli took charge of the project and solved one of the mysteries of the site. Every so often holes appeared in the tufa that had enveloped everything.
He had the brain wave of filling these holes with plaster and what emerged was as vivid as or even more vivid than any television picture. We can now see the bodies of many of the inhabitants and the look of terror on their faces as they were struck down. Today epoxy resin gives even finer detail of their clothes and jewelry and where bones haves been uncovered DNA gives details of the age and sex of the victim.
In New Orleans crowds gathered at the Superdome in the hope of some help and rescue. In Herculaneum they gathered in desperation at the port and seashore hoping to escape but they too were overwhelmed by a pyroclastic surge.
In the same way as New Orleans, despite the disaster looters went to work. Though the towns were buried under several metres of ash and pumice, there is evidence that once it was possible they began to tunnel through the sites and looted many of the wealthier houses. The towns remain a rich source of artifacts and insight into Roman life but in many cases it is clear that looters got there first. I walked through the ancient streets of Pompeii and Herculaneum while New Orleans was being hammered by Katrina and I could see many of the things that any similar Irish town might have; bars, shops, restaurants, theatres and even pedestrian crossings. You even find graffiti on the walls. On one financier's house someone had written "welcome money". More poignantly, there are the private houses where people can be seen clinging to one another as doom descended upon them.
Pompeii and Herculaneum were rich, cultured and important centres of the most advanced society of the ancient world and yet when nature unleashed her power they were mere pebbles in her pathway. Likewise, despite all the computers, mobile phones and paraphernalia of the 21st century, New Orleans seemed to be just as vulnerable. The US may have better powers of recovery and New Orleans will probably be restored to its former glory but in the houses of Pompeii and Herculaneum there are the pots and compasses of the plasterers repairing the damage of the great earthquake of AD 63.
They recovered once but not a second time. How long has New Orleans before a second force 5 hurricane arrives and how well will she be prepared? In that old Roman cliché "only time will tell".