New Orleans is, for many people, synonymous with disaster. But disaster has been the last thing on the minds of New Orleanians in the past few months, at least prior to the explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon rig off the Louisiana coast on April 20. Tourism was up, the local economy was growing at a steady pace, a new mayor had come into office, and most importantly, the city was still enthralled by the Saints’ stunning victory in Super Bowl XLIV. The Crescent City was back from the near death experience of Katrina. This most history-haunted of America’s cities was finally looking forward.

Perhaps it was this lingering euphoria that kept the full impact of the spill from coming home to residents of the Gulf Coast for several weeks. The pictures of the massive rig collapsing into the Gulf shocked locals and got brief mentions in the national papers. News that the well was leaking took several additional days to filter out. Nearly two weeks after the rig exploded, New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu spoke off-handedly in his inaugural address about how “[e]very practical resource of the government and the private sector will be brought to bear to deal with this catastrophe,” before moving on to celebrate the city’s rebirth after Katrina. The Obama administration spent several days quietly dithering about how the spill would affect its plans to pass an energy bill through Congress in the summer. Even Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, who has been screaming loudest and longest about the sluggish federal reaction, was initially muted. The week after the explosion, Jindal’s official blog briefly mentioned “the possible effects of oil on our coast” before going on to discuss positive economic reports and a ceremony honoring Louisiana veterans.