Folk Songs About Hurricanes, Floods, New Orleans

Hurricane Sandy hit Atlantic City, New Jersey, New York City and surrounding areas on October 29, 2012.

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on the morning of Monday, August 29, 2005. It was a Category 4 storm which exceeded the design limit of the levees (Category 3). The flooding recalled the great flood of 1927.

In September of 2008, Hurriance Ike struck Galveston, TX recalling the great flood of 1900, which killed 6,000 people (the worst disaster in U.S. history).

Adie Grey- Hurricane's Comin' (Brane new Old Time Music)
Anais Mitchell, Out of Pawn, The Brightness
Bill Staines\ Louisiana Storm\ The Second Million Miles
Bing Bang Boys\ Creole Bell\ I'm Feelin' Good\ Rubinchik
Blind Lemon Jefferson\ Rising High Water Blues\ Blind Lemon Jefferson\ Milestone
Bob Dylan\ Shelter From the Storm (also done by Rodney Crowell)
Bob Dylan\ The Levee's Gonna Break\ Modern Times\ Columbia
Bob Franke\ Alleluia, The Great Storm Is Over\ The Other Evening In Chicago\ Waterbug
BR549- After the Hurricane (Dog Days)
Bruce Holmes - When the Wind Returns
Can’t Find the Way – Mary Gauthier from “Between Daylight and Dark”
Cathy Barton & Dave Para\ Levee Breakdown/Jefferson City Hornpipe\ Crazy Quilt\ Self (instrumental)
Christine Lavin- Here Comes Hurricane Season (Happy Dance of the Xenophobe)
Dave Van Ronk\ St. James Infirmary\ Two Sides\ Fantasy
David Rodriguez (Carrie's father)- Hurricane (The True Cross)
Del Rey\ When the Levee Breaks\ When the Levee Breaks\ Hobemian
Doc Watson\ Deep River Blues\ Legacy\ High Windy
Dylan's "Crash on the Levee" (Down in the Flood)
Eileen Jewell\ The Flood\ Boundary County\ Self
Erica Wheeler - Muddy Waters - Good Summer Rain
Galveston Flood.  Joe Hickerson sings it on Folk Legacy's 5 Days Singing Vol. II
Gwen Swick- Middle of a Hurricane (Love and Gold)
Hawkeye Herman\ Katrina, Oh Katrina (Hurricane Blues)
Hurricane - Phil Rosenthal "A Matter of Time", Sierra-Hollywood 
Jack Williams \ Mighty Storm (about Galveston)
Jack Williams \ O Chain Lightning
Jimmie Rodgers\ My Little Old Home Down in New Orleans\ The Early Years\ Rounder
John Fogerty- Walking in a Hurricane (Blue Moon Swamp)
John McCutcheon\ Hope Dies Last\ This Fire\ Appalsongs
Kim Barlow's "Hurricane Jane" on her album Humminah.
Kris Delmhorst- Hurricane (Songs for a Hurricane)
Like A Hurricane – Chris Hillman 
Lori B- Hurricane Child (Hurricane Child)
Loudon Wainwright III's "Natural Disaster", found on his Final Exam album. 
Lucinda Williams\ Crescent City\ Epon.\ Koch
Memphis Minnie\ When the Levee Breaks\ Queen of the Blues\ Yazoo
Michelle Shocked\ Evacuation Route\ Don't Ask Don't Tell
Mindy Smith- Hurricane (One Moment More)
Mississippi John Hurt\ Make Me A Pallet on Your Floor\ Today!\ Vanguard
Nanci Griffith\ Wasn't That A Mighty Storm\ Other Voices, Too\ Elektra
Paul Kamm & Eleanore MacDonald\ I've Got To Know\ Fool's Paradise\ Freewheel
Paul Simon- Hurricane Eye (You're the One)
Pete Seeger\ House of the Rising Sun\ American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 2\ Smithsonian/Folkways
Randy Newman\ Louisiana 1927 (also covered by Old School Freight Train, Marcia Ball)
Robert Earl Keen\ Hello New Orleans\ Gravitational Forces\ Lost Highway
Rod MacDonald- The Lucky Ones (A Tale of Two Americas)
Rodney Crowell w/Emmylou Harris\ Shelter From the Storm\ The Outsider\ Sugar Hill
Stanley Bros. \ Story of the Flood
Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen / Hurricane / Being There /
Taylor Pie\ Gulf Of Mexico\ So Little Has Changed\ Self
The Carter Family\ The Storms are on the Ocean\ Anchored in Love\ Rounder
The Ferryboat Musicians\ Louisiana Storm\ Overboard!\ Ferryboat
The Levee Broke – Zachard Richard, from “Last Kiss”
The Wilders\ When the Levee's Gone\ Throw Down\ Rural Grit
Tim O'Brien\ House Of The Risin' Sun\ Cornbread Nation\ Sugar Hill
Tom Rush\ Galveston Flood\ Best of
Tom Russell- Hurricane Season (Hurricane Season)
Woody Guthrie\ I Ain't Got No Home in this World Anymore\ Hard Travelin'\ Smithsonian/Folkways

Note: Bob Dylans' song "Hurricane" is not about the weather!

Additional song suggestions? Email Richard Gillmann


Folk Music Song Themes Last modified