But there were also profane jeers from many in the crowd of nearly 20,000 outside the Convention Center, which a day earlier seemed on the verge of a riot, with desperate people seething with anger over the lack of anything to eat or drink. The Louisiana Superdome, once a mighty testament to architecture and ingenuity, became the biggest storm shelter in New Orleans the day before Katrina's arrival Monday. The police department -- reeling from desertions, flooding and the immensity of the disaster -- was in a survival mode itself. August 28, 2015, 2:21 PM. I just sent President Obama 10 letters the other day ( I remember Oprah saying persistence pays off) saying that since Katrina, we still only have two medical trailers in this part of town, and they arent equipped to handle emergencies or even basic lab work. Hurricane Katrina becomes Category 2 by 11 am, with 100 mph maximum sustained winds. ", Leo Bosner, FEMA watch officer: Phyllis Montana-Leblanc is a Hurricane Katrina survivor. Airborne debris will be widespread and may include heavy items such as household appliances and even light vehicles. Mahogany describes her actions before deciding to evacuate her home, her trip to the New Orleans Saints' Superdome, her horrific time at the Superdome, and finally her decision to leave New Orleans. Looting becomes more widespread; hotels begin turning out guests. The city's buses have been positioned around the city in locations that have never been flooded. In October 2005, The Historic New Orleans Collection initiated Through Hell and High Water: Katrina's First Responders Oral History Project, partnering with local, state, and federal agencies to document their experiences. A New Orleans house submerged in floodwaters. Note: In the last hours before Katrina made landfall, dozens of copies of the Hurricane Pam report are distributed to emergency planners. As the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, explore three different FRONTLINE documentaries about the disaster, its lingering aftermath and the lessons learned. You have responded to my calls." The skies darkened, and the wind started to pick up. And when I saw it then, and watching it again now, I think that Trouble the Water is an amazing accomplishment, and something everyone should see about the people who had to live through what we all went through here in New Orleans. And the impression given in those four days is basically indelible. She describes . On Sept. 15, 2005, in an address to the nation, President Bush declares, "It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces -- the institution of our government most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice.". Flooding grows as water surges over levee breaks from Lake Ponchartrain; the 9th Ward is almost entirely submerged. "I'm not gonna go on television and publicly say that I think that the mayor and the governor are not doing their job, and that they don't have the sense of urgency. "The fact that something wasn't reported to the police doesn't mean it didn't happen," Benitez says. So I went to the premiere, knowing Danny Glover was hosting it, and I couldnt get into the screeningso I texted Spike Lee, who directed When the Levees Broke, the documentary I was in, and asked him to pull some strings, but he didnt have Dannys number. She contacted the New Orleans police in October and filed a report that she was beaten with a bat and raped on Sept. 6th in broad daylight next to a flooded McDonald's at Gentilly Boulevard and Elysian Fields, near her father's house. In downtown New Orleans, some streets were merely wet rather than swamped. Trachelle Addison cuddles her 2-week-old son, Jirra-e, in the stands of the Superdome, where some 25,000 refugees took shelter after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. Michael Brown, FEMA director: At 10 a.m., the Thorntons headed together to the Superdome. WGBH educational foundation, "A close eye will be kept this system could strengthen ", "Media reports attribute Katrina with four fatalities [in Florida], more than a million customers were without electricity", "Katrina will regenerate on Friday over Gulf of Mexico, head west-northwest then turn northward. Five officers were ultimately indicted: one for the shooting, and four additional officers on charges related to burning Glovers body and obstructing a federal investigation. The expected storm surge is 15 to 20 feet, locally as high as 25 feet. Sept. 15, 2005, 7:50 AM PDT. She requests President Bush to declare a state of emergency in Louisiana. It was late August, and some of the staff of the NREMT and I were attending the combined NAEMT conference and EMS Expo in New . The death toll in the city is not known, but the dying continues as people succumb to illness, exhaustion and days without food and water. During Hurricane Katrina, around 20,000 people took refuge in the Superdome. FEMA organizes 475 buses to be sent in to transport many of the estimated 23,000 people from the Superdome to the Houston Astrodome. I said, 'We need to do this.' By the end of the day, the projected storm surge is 18 to 22 feet, locally as high as 28 feet. In what looked like a scene from a Third World country, some people threw their arms heavenward and others nearly fainted with joy as the trucks and hundreds of soldiers arrived in the punishing midday heat. "The police was stressed out themselves," Lewis says. FEMA Situation Update: ", "Coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations as they rushed to get out A direct hit could wind up submerging New Orleans in several feet of water At least 100,000 people in the city lack transportation to get out Louisiana and Mississippi make all lanes northbound on interstate highways", Note: In the last hours before Katrina made landfall, dozens of copies of the, "To cries of 'Thank you, Jesus!' And it was a very good meeting, I thought. The networks all-original programming slate features a roster of hit series, epic miniseries, and scripted event programming. Persons, pets, and livestock exposed to the winds will face certain death if struck. I laid that out for him. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. FRONTLINE reports from Iraq on the miscalculations and mistakes behind the brutal rise of ISIS. ", At that time, I thought we had done a pretty good job because we had gotten about 80 percent of the people out. Ten years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast and generated a huge disaster. And you need to order mandatory evacuation. Michael Brown, FEMA director: (Weather forecasters classify hurricane strength on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the strongest.) The Times-Picayune reports that the breaches in the 17th Street and Florida Avenue Canals have been repaired and power is restored to the Warehouse and Central Business Districts. Thats just one of the chain of catastrophes at the local, state and national level brought to vivid life in FRONTLINEs Emmy Award-winning 2005 documentaryThe Storm. Gov. "It was that terrible. She says she tried to report the assault at the time, but authorities weren't listening. I began to believe that no buses had been ordered. Where is food? I had all the police, the firefighters in rescue mode, so the looting thing started to rear its head. And he said: 'Mr. Kathleen Blanco: And, in 2004, FEMA sponsored a disaster planning exercise in which the scenario was a major hurricane striking New Orleans. We could either go with your suggestion' -- which, my suggestion was, if you don't give me the final authority give it to Gen. [Russel] Honor. Looting breaks out in parts of the city. Kathleen Blanco: I gave the governor two options. He came right back and he said, I dont know why, but theres probably a foot of water on Claiborne Street, Landreneau said. by JOHN DORN. Issues of race, class, government response and responsibility, and political rivalries interweave with personal stories of challenges faced and decisions made. The spot urges victims to report their assault by calling 1-800-656-HOPE. So I can assume what the criminals were thinking, and that's exactly what happened.". With a death toll of more than 1,800, Katrina was the third-deadliest hurricane in US history after Galveston in 1900 (which killed 8,000 to . The population of New Orleans was about 400,000 by 2020, some 20 percent below its population in 2000. "A close eye will be kept this system could strengthen ". After Katrina, the spectacle of a Black refugee population in the Superdome, along with the short-lived plan from Mayor Nagin's committee to wipe out some Black neighborhoods, revived these . That's where Katrina Babies comes in. We all did. But problems persist. ', And we left and had a press conference. William E. Brown Jr. -. And I knew it wasn't true, because 8:00 or 10:00 that morning, I received a report from one of my staffers that either a levee had been topped or had actually broken. And Michael Brown was there listening. People begin arriving at the Ernest M. Morial Convention Center seeking shelter, food, and water. And I said [to the president], 'Look, we talked about that option, and then we also talked about another option, that we would federalize, and the governor said she needed time to think about it. You can change your choices at any time by clicking on the 'Privacy dashboard' links on our sites and apps. Its efforts fail. Meanwhile, Lewis, the 46-year-old home health-care worker, has still not reported her assault to the police, and she has no plans to. And I forget whether it was on Saturday or Sunday, I told my staff that I was sick to my stomach because I could see that some things weren't looking quite right. I said, 'OK, great.' And he said: 'No, you don't have to leave. After the genocide in Rwanda and atrocities in Srebrenica, Bosnia, in the 1990s, the world vowed never again. Then came the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, which began 20 years ago. Producer Martin Smith: Were they going back and forth with each other? And the mayor began to tell us some of the things that he needed. They spend the next 24 hours trying to save themselves. Around 8 a.m. the storm's eye passes eastern New Orleans. Buses have started evacuating people at the Superdome, but at the Convention Center thousands are still waiting and conditions continue to deteriorate there. "Drug and alcohol use is another contributing factor, and no police presence to prevent them from doing whatever they wanted to, to whomever they wanted to.". and catcalls of 'What took you so long?,' a National Guard convoy packed with food, water and medicine rolled through axle-deep floodwaters Friday into what remained of New Orleans and descended into a maelstrom of fires and floating corpses. Lewis says that later in the week, national guardsmen forced evacuees out of the building at gunpoint. The line to get in was already a quarter-mile long. There are still areas that look like Katrina hit yesterday. Around this time 17 years ago, Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, and permanently changed life for thousands of people across the country. By the end of the day it is 335 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River. Recalling her attack, she sobs, "They just left us to die. Very shortly, he said, Cars are beginning to float out of the parking lot. Through their world-class scientists, photographers, journalists, and filmmakers, Nat Geo gets you closer to the stories that matter and past the edge of what's possible.Get More National Geographic:Official Site: http://bit.ly/NatGeoOfficialSiteFacebook: http://bit.ly/FBNatGeoTwitter: http://bit.ly/NatGeoTwitterInstagram: http://bit.ly/NatGeoInstaHurricane Katrina Day by Day | National Geographichttps://youtu.be/HbJaMWw4-2QNational Geographichttps://www.youtube.com/natgeo [2] Approximately 10,000 residents, along with about 150 National Guardsmen, sheltered in the Superdome anticipating Katrina's landfall. Producer Martin Smith: So we're just eating sandwiches and making nice while people are stranded on rooftops? Mayor, what do you need?' What happened next was more than just a natural disaster especially in New Orleans, where the failure of the cityslevees unleashed flooding that left roughly80 percent of the city underwater. "Media reports attribute Katrina with four fatalities [in Florida], more than a million customers were without electricity". Where is water? Then we kind of figure out ways that we could coordinate. But we need something really big, like a hospital, that shows where the $25 billion in recovery money is going. Another group, Witness Justice, a Maryland-based non-profit that assists victims of violent crimes, claims to have received 156 reports of post-Katrina violent crimes; about a third of those involved sexual assaults. "We did meet with [Mayor Nagin] Tuesday morning. HBO. All I can tell you is that in the city of New Orleans we had maybe 250 guardsmen that we could account for. Hurricane Katrina: Caught on Camera Over three days in August 2005, a cataclysmic storm brought flooding and disaster to the Gulf Coast of America, leaving over 1,800 people dead in Louisiana and Mississippi. She is at work on her next memoir, No More Wire Hangers, about domestic abuse in teenage relationships. But there were also profane jeers from many in the crowd of nearly 20,000 outside the Convention Center, which a day earlier seemed on the verge of a riot, with desperate people seething with anger over the lack of anything to eat or drink. We knew we were gonna have to shelter people. "I remember reading [that New Orleans had dodged a bullet]. The interviews done as part of this project reflect the disaster's painful, chaotic, and murky aftermath. I've got to know. In one notorious incident known as the Danziger Bridge case, police opened fire on a group of civilians, who were later found to be unarmed and searching for food and medicine. The city floods further. Mayor, we had a good meeting. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. "[Michael] Brown I did not see the first couple of days. Katrina Babies is an assertion of presence, a proclamation that the devastating hurricane is not simply a past story, but a present one too. New Orleans residents are still trapped by the floodwaters, and dispatchers receive about 1,000 emergency phone calls from people needing to be rescued. "I at least wanted a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans and the surrounding parishes [on Saturday]. City officials say 80 percent of New Orleans is flooded. Now, other than media reports, I don't know what's happening at the other end. August 28, 2005. In his speech, he calls on all federal, state and local agencies to review their performance. The mistake that I made was not doing that sooner and not giving them the orders that we needed them to do all of that immediately. There are still gangs of armed criminals roaming the city; police and National Guard, now numbered at 16,000, have a better handle on the situation than earlier in the week. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. He Says He Paid a Price. At a press conference in Baton Rouge, 80 miles away, Gov. But one man then-82-year-old Herbert Gettridge was determined to rebuild the house he had built more than 50 years earlier in the Lower Ninth Ward, with or without government support. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. special video+discussion+teacher's guide+readings & links "Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks perhaps longer. will never be the same. A hurricane warning is issued for the Southeast Florida coast. National surveys show that half of all sexual assaults are never reported. National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield tells the Times-Picayune newspaper, "This is scary this is the real thing." At the peak of the Katrina recovery effort, 51,039 National Guard soldiers from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and three territories worked in Louisiana and Mississippi, making Katrina by far . The death toll in the city is not known, but the dying continues as people succumb to illness, exhaustion and days without food and water. A timeline of the warnings, some of the decisions leading up to the disaster, and what went wrong with the government's response. Concerned over unreported and underreported rapes, her organization, together with the National Sexual Violence Resource Center -- which is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- created a national database to track sexual assaults that happened after Katrina. The account of her rape was verified by a trained forensic nurse at Earl K. Long Hospital in Baton Rouge, where Lewis sought treatment. Tonight, the Oscar-nominated Trouble the Watera documentary by filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, premieres on HBO. There is a documentary about . When Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans poet Shelton Alexander to evacuate his home, he took his truck and video camera to the Superdome. At 7 am Katrina is a Category 5 with 160 mph maximum sustained winds. And there seems to be this dance about who has ultimate authority. Military planners are considering setting up a permanent rapid reaction unit designed to respond to domestic disasters. We go to Sam's and Wal-Mart and Winn-Dixie and gather up food and water and start distributing it because we had 60 hours' worth of resources that we had stored, but now we're out of it. And that this could potentially be the big one that we had planned for in Hurricane Pam.". After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, Congress appropriated an unprecedented $126.4 billion for relief, recovery and rebuilding efforts. These defenses held for Hurricane Ida, a category 4 storm, in August 2021. My old high school, Joseph S. Clark, shut down, and we dont even have parks yet for kids to hang out inthats what we did in the 70s, at leastIm still trying to petition for these things, to organize our community, and these fool ass people have not yet gotten down here to rebuild. Listen 7:57. Nature Documentary hosted by Helen Baxandale, published by Channel 4 in 2010 - English narration Cover Information . Lewis says she was raped on Monday, Aug. 29, the day of the storm. "I went into New Orleans and stood beside Mayor Nagin and emphasized the need to leave. On that first night after the storm, the city had lost power, and she was sleeping in a dark hallway, trying to catch a breeze. ", Mayor Ray Nagin: Abandoned cars remain on Interstate 10 in front of the heavily damaged Superdome September 14, 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana. FEMA National Situation Update: If we arent talking about what we still need, how can we be sure people wont forget?. He escaped the chaotic shelter a few days later with a truckload of people and video documentation of history.Check out exclusive HISTORY content:Website - http://www.history.com?cmpid=Social_YouTube_HistHomeTwitter - https://twitter.com/history/postsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/HistoryHISTORY, now reaching more than 98 million homes, is the leading destination for award-winning original series and specials that connect viewers with history in an informative, immersive, and entertaining manner across all platforms. Floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina fill the streets near downtown New Orleans, La., on Aug. 30, 2005. Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans: The Times-Picayune reports that 4,600 active duty troops under the command of Gen. Russel Honor arrive in New Orleans. producer's chat+tapes & transcript+press reaction+credits+privacy policy That she could turn this 15 minutes of footage into an Oscar-nominated documentaryIm amazed by it. When Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans poet Shelton Alexander to evacuate his home, he took his truck and video camera to the Superdome. Judy Benitez is executive director of the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault, a statewide coalition of rape crisis centers. Here's the things I think we need to focus on. "Coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations as they rushed to get out A direct hit could wind up submerging New Orleans in several feet of water At least 100,000 people in the city lack transportation to get out Louisiana and Mississippi make all lanes northbound on interstate highways". As a shocking New Orleans documentary airs on HBO tonight, Phyllis Montana-LeBlancbestselling author and gutsy survivorexplains why the city is still drowning. With Glovers story as a jumping-off point, FRONTLINE partnered with the Times-Picayune and ProPublica in 2010 to investigate six questionable shootings by police revealing that, in the midst of post-Katrina chaos, law-enforcement commanders issued orders to ignore long-established rules governing the use of deadly force. Victims of Hurricane Katrina fight through the crowd as they line up for buses to evacuate the Superdome and New Orleans, Sept. 1, 2005. Half of telephone service is back. But Mayor Nagin goes on radio and castigates state and federal officials for their inaction and demands they "fix the biggest god-damn crisis in the history of this country." But prosecutors have struggled to hold officers accountable. "And so now I think it's swung the other direction and it's underreported. ", In Washington, President Bush publicly acknowledges the inadequacy of the federal government's response: "Many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need, especially in New Orlenas. He also announces that the Superdome will be "a shelter of last resort for evacuees with special needs." The National Guards didn't want to hear it.". I've heard some terrible stories since that the stuff wasn't getting there. Lt. Dave Benelli, commander of the sex crimes unit with the New Orleans Police Department, denies that. Some 11,000 National Guardsmen are now on duty in Louisiana and increased security begins to have an effect on lawlessness in New Orleans, although some violence continues. And he basically asked me, 'Mr. During Hurricane Katrina, then known as the Louisiana Superdome, the arena was used as . Last September, when Trouble the Water first premiered in New Orleans, I remember thinking, "I have to go down to Canal Place Cinema and support this." Katrina anniversary: Inside the Superdome during Katrina. Around 6 a.m., Category 4 Hurricane Katrina strikes the Gulf Coast with 145 mph maximum sustained winds. "They didn't have no food. But a growing body of evidence suggests there were more storm-related sexual assaults than previously known. We, Yahoo, are part of the Yahoo family of brands. FRONTLINEs documentary The Old Man and the Storm followed Gettridge for 18 months as he worked to rebuild his home, which took on 10 feet of water when the levees breached. Gallery. According to a New York Times article of September 29, "During six days when the Superdome was used as a shelter, the head of the New Orleans Police Department's sex crimes unit, Lt. David . That's the attitude I would take if I was operating in the dark too. In a documentary aired in October 2005 on the Sundance Channel, "In His Own Words: Brian Williams on Hurricane Katrina," Williams said, . My sense now is there are victims out there whose stories haven't been heard.". There is a belief that the city has avoided a direct hit. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. I don't think that's the proper thing to do. They didn't have communication. After being damaged by. ", Richard Falkenrath, Homeland Security Adviser (2001-2004): Katrina Cop in the Superdome. He estimates 5,000 to 10,000 people are still in the city, with many of them still waiting to be rescued. And I wanted to cut to the chase because I knew what the real issue was. to support FEMA disaster relief efforts, but it will be two days before the troops arrive in the city. The vast majority of them were elderly. Winds continue to damage or destroy buildings and blow out windows. The groups went in shifts, sneaking down over to the. It is 250 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. President Bush arrives in New Orleans and holds a meeting on Air Force One with federal and local officials. One of the victims is Ms. Lewis, a 46-year-old home health-care worker from New Orleans East, who asked that her first name not be used. And at that time I took some liberties I probably shouldn't take. And based upon that ["Hurricane Pam" planning exercise], I knew they needed to evacuate. Exacerbated by the recent BP oil spill in the region, the storm and its aftermath remains an open wound for local residents and others affected . If you would like to customise your choices, click 'Manage privacy settings'. "I didn't see any police officers -- I could have gotten away with murder," she says. We have Brad Pitt and Chris Rocks wife here now, and I think collectively its making a huge, huge difference. In all honesty, we begin looting. These three documentaries and nearly 190 more are all streaming online at pbs.org/frontline. / HBO Around this time 17 years ago, Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, and permanently changed life for thousands of people across the country. In Louisiana, New Orleans is of particular concern because much of that city lies below sea level. Patrice Taddonio. Follow a day-by-day account of Hurricane Katrina's wrath, from its birth in the Atlantic Ocean to its catastrophic effects: flooded streets, flattened homes, and horrific loss of life. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe#NationalGeographic #HurricaneKatrina #StormsAbout National Geographic:National Geographic is the world's premium destination for science, exploration, and adventure. [Secretary of Homeland Security Michael] Chertoff is there. By midday, water levels between the city and Lake Ponchartrain have equalized. TV-PG. Female victims, now displaced from New Orleans, are slowly coming forward with a different story than the official one. authenticate users, apply security measures, and prevent spam and abuse, and, display personalised ads and content based on interest profiles, measure the effectiveness of personalised ads and content, and, develop and improve our products and services. "I'm telling you the number of reported rapes we had.". ". Michael Brown, FEMA director: Buckles' intimate connection to the people he interviews many of them family members, friends, and former . People continue to head towards the Superdome, which is now surrounded by water. FEMA National Situation Update: Here in New Orleans East, we desperately need a hospital. The top-notch special effects are alarmingly realistic and frightening, particularly when the 17th St. Canal levee breaches and when Katrina rips the roof from the Superdome, where in the days . In what looked like a scene from a Third World country, some people threw their arms heavenward and others nearly fainted with joy as the trucks and hundreds of soldiers arrived in the punishing midday heat. Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News/epa/Corbis.
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