January 25, 2018
Urban development is a major factor in natural disasters, according to Rhodes College Department of History Chair Jeffrey Jackson. Jackson, who studies the history of natural disasters, wrote the book Paris Under Water: How the City of Light Survived the Great Flood of 1910.
Discussing the flooding that Paris is currently experiencing along the Seine River, Jackson recounts lessons learned from the Great Flood of 1910 and their present-day implications. “People end up creating the situations that cause disasters. Nature does its thing, and the problem with disasters is we get in the way.”
Dr. Jackson is the J.J. McComb Professor, Associate Professor of History and Chair, Chair of Environmental Studies and Sciences at Rhodes College.