Carolyn Kolb, a local historian, journalist and educator, will discuss “The History of Hurricanes,” at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 1, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

This event is free of charge and is open to the public. There is no registration.

Hurricanes have been a part of New Orleans history since the city was settled in the early 18thcentury by the French. Louisiana has been hit by 49 of the 273 hurricanes that have made landfall on the American Atlantic Coast between 1851 and 2004. Eighteen of the 92 major hurricanes of category 3 or above have struck the state in the same time period. On average, one major storm crosses within 100 nautical miles of New Orleans every decade.

Even before Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency listed a hurricane strike in New Orleans as one of the direst threats to the nation, on par with a large California earthquake or a terrorist attack on New York City. New Orleans history offers its own perspective, including the four most destructive storms of the twentieth century: the Hurricane of 1947, Betsy, Camille, and Georges.

Dr. Kolb will discuss some of the many hurricanes that have struck the area as well as their legacies.

Carolyn Kolb moved as a child across Lake Pontchartrain to Bogalusa, but made regular trips to New Orleans since she had family here. After high school she came back to the city and graduated from Newcomb College of Tulane University with a bachelor’s degree in English. She earned a master of art degree in history and a doctoral degree in Urban Studies/Urban History from the University of New Orleans. She is a former director of the New Orleans Jazz Museum (the collection is part of the Louisiana State Museum today) and was a reporter for the Times-Picayune newspaper. She teaches Louisiana history at the School of Continuing Studies at Tulane University, has written several guidebooks to the city, and is a columnist for New Orleans Magazine.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.