Military and Coast Guard helicopters flew a steady stream of evacuees from hospitals and rooftops to the airport southwest of downtown. A hurricane warning is issued for north central Gulf . At 10 a.m., the Thorntons headed together to the Superdome. The outer ends of the hurricane also produced tornados . More than a million people were displaced in the days leading up to and following . 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. I think the American Red Cross already had shelters and was already feeding people. "I know more sexual assaults took place. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin says he'll follow the state evacuation plan and will not call for mandatory evacuation until 30 hours before projected landfall. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warning: Watch it: To learn about questionable police shootings and cover-ups in Katrinas wake. "We'd heard the story of a man killing himself, falling . With camera lenses and lights abounding, the . Marty Bahamonde/FEMA. Orders volun-tary evacuation where residents in low-lying areas encouraged to evacuate Sunday, August 28, 2005: Hurricane Katrina becomes a Category 5 storm with 160 mph winds Superdome opens as a shelter of last resort Acadian personnel are deployed to the Superdome to help triage special needs patients and staff the rst aid station Nagin . 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. They were finally able to leave the city on Saturday. [Congressman] Bobby Jindal is there, the senators Landrieu and [David] Vitter, and Congressman [William] Jefferson. "What we did -- under Louisiana law the parish presidents, the head of the counties, have the authority to use private resources. I mentally moved on from the storm after I wrote the last page of my book, but this documentary has opened some old wounds and moves me to action, and I can only hope it does the same for others. The storm traveled the Gulf of Mexico and then made landfall on the Gulf Coast in southeast Louisiana near the town of Buras, on Aug. 29, 2005. But more and more people were being evacuated from their rooftops after being in the sun for long periods or overnight and being put on highways on high ground. Buckles, who wrote and directed the documentary . President Bush declares Louisiana and Mississippi major disaster areas. It doesn't make any sense.". Then, the airman hesitated a minute, and asked Landreneau to hold. Because of the ensuing . A New Orleans house submerged in floodwaters. She sits on the edge of a bed in a dingy, dimly lit room in a motel in Baton Rouge. William E. Brown Jr. -. Airborne debris will be widespread and may include heavy items such as household appliances and even light vehicles. Panels blew off and the roof was severely damaged, but it was the only shelter . Katrina Cop in the Superdome. They lost 15 high-water trucks with mobile communications packages. And nothing happened. Phyllis Montana-LeBlancthe breakout star of Spike Lees When the Levees Broke documentary and author of Not Just the Levees Broke: My Story During and After Katrina (and a consultant on David Simons new post-Katrina HBO drama)writes below about why viewers should still care about New Orleans four years later, and why Trouble the Water just may be the wakeup call we need. There's no question.". He Says He Paid a Price. FEMA Situation Update: Kimberly Roberts is the star of the filmif you can call her thata 24-year-old aspiring rapper who did not have the finances to get the hell out of New Orleans when Katrina hit, and still, she managed to film all of her harrowing experiences on a Hi-8 camerathe water rising, being trapped in the attic with her husband and neighbors, the fear they felt. Watch it: For a powerful story of resilience and determination in the face of tragedy. Since many New Orleans streets are still filled with stagnant, fetid waters smelling of garbage and raw sewage, the military was considering using planes to spray for mosquitoes.". Hurricane Katrina Superdome. In all honesty, we begin looting. Ten years ago this Saturday, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast. [Governor Blanco] probably should have asked sooner. "The fact that something wasn't reported to the police doesn't mean it didn't happen," Benitez says. Required fields are marked *. "I didn't see any police officers -- I could have gotten away with murder," she says. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome is a landmark in the city of New Orleans. He had been shot by a rookie police officer while walking through the parking lot of a run-down strip mall, and his brother had brought Glover who was curled up and bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest to a temporary SWAT compound seeking medical attention. We'll put a couple of medical teams on standby. Here's the things I think we need to focus on. By the end of the day it is 335 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River. Met in the little office at the Super Dome where the heliport is. People can say that writing a check doesnt mean anything, but honey, it does. During Hurricane Katrina, then known as the Louisiana Superdome, the arena was used as . Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News/epa/Corbis But we need something really big, like a hospital, that shows where the $25 billion in recovery money is going. At 7 pm it makes landfall north of Miami. We talked about it. "I got a call, I think Saturday afternoon [from] Max Mayfield, the hurricane director. He estimates 5,000 to 10,000 people are still in the city, with many of them still waiting to be rescued. And it was a very good meeting, I thought. I went to the Adjutant General [Landreneau] and I went to Gov. "All I could do was pray, pray for rescue, pray that I didn't have any type of transmitted disease," she says. It hit land as a Category 3 storm with winds reaching speeds as high as 120 miles per hour. Exploring the experiences of a black member of the New Orleans Police Department and assorted other New Orleans residents during their stay in the Louisiana Superdome during and after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005. The Convention Center becomes a destination for walk-in refugees seeking evacuation. I'm just not going to go on, on public television and bash in the middle of a disaster what I think people should or should not be doing. I said, 'If you guys don't get together and work this out, this is going to get worse.' I think we both should have asked sooner.". Issues of race, class, government response and responsibility, and political rivalries . That is why the first place we picked to do an exercise and planning was New Orleans. We have so much intelligence down here in New Orleans, and yet, even four years after the hurricane, we cant rely on the school system. August 28, 2015, 2:21 PM. Flooding grows as water surges over levee breaks from Lake Ponchartrain; the 9th Ward is almost entirely submerged. What I hope people will realize when they see Trouble the Water is that we still have so much to do here, and that Katrina really changed so many lives, but we are a really resilient people and we want our city to come back. Katrina first made landfall in South Florida. The film features 15 minutes of live hurricane video shot by Kimberly Roberts, an aspiring rapper whose family was too poor to leave New Orleans, and follows Kim's family and others through the . will never be the same. That's the attitude I would take if I was operating in the dark too. Victims of Hurricane Katrina fight through the crowd as they line up for buses to evacuate the Superdome and New Orleans, Sept. 1, 2005. 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. Looting becomes more widespread; hotels begin turning out guests. Some electrical substations serving downtown New Orleans are repaired, but Entergy, the local energy utitlity, must first ensure that buildings can receive the electricity safely before the power is restored. Per this CNN Money report, a Brian Williams' Katrina tale appears to have evolved somewhat dramatically over the course of just one year.In 2005, Williams reported in a documentary that he had "heard the story" of a man killing himself in the Superdome. We'd sent them all the information they needed. 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. August 29, 2005. Dave Cohen was one of the few reporters to stay in New Orleans as Katrina bore down on the city, and continued broadcasting as the . ISIS' growing foothold in Afghanistan is captured on film. FEMA National Situation Update: Reports stream in from people needing rescue. I said, 'All of us are going to leave right now, and they're going to work this out right now. Documenting evidence of potential war crimes in Ukraine. Benitez and others interviewed for this report believe that police authorities -- who were anxious to discount initially exaggerated reports of mayhem -- are downplaying violent crimes that happened in the anarchy after the storm. Gettridge,a fifth generation New Orleanian, would go on to die from a heart attack in 2014 at the age of 91 at the home he had successfully rebuilt. 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. Your email address will not be published. Mayor Mitch Landrieu last week hailedNew Orleans as Americas comeback city,citing efforts to reduce crime, decrease homelessness and improve educational outcomes for area students. Evacuating hospitals is a top priority: Patients and staff are stranded and supplies and power are dwindling. 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. 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. So many people have Katrina Fatigue, as I like to call itthe hurricane is four years out, and I applaud anything that brings another testimony into the public conversation; that shows people how bad it was, and how bad it still is. Looting breaks out in parts of the city. But while the Superdome has been reclaimed, those stories of trauma remain, and some roil pretty close to . He came right back and he said, I dont know why, but theres probably a foot of water on Claiborne Street, Landreneau said. At least one half of well constructed homes will have roof and wall failure. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. By. ". At 7 am Katrina is a Category 5 with 160 mph maximum sustained winds. In the 2005 documentary "In His Own Words: Brian Williams on Hurricane Katrina," Williams indicated that he wasn't a witness to the suicide. Hurricane Katrina first made landfall on Aug. 25, 2005, in Florida, weakening to a tropical storm as it briefly passed over land. I don't think that's the proper thing to do. Their communications center was useless. "As I have said, I think that one of the biggest mistakes that I made as the FEMA director during Katrina was not immediately turning to the military and saying: 'We have been overwhelmed. 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. This escapism was part of the gift the Saints gave the city following Hurricane Katrina. And, in 2004, FEMA sponsored a disaster planning exercise in which the scenario was a major hurricane striking New Orleans. Katrina caused more than $160 billion in damage. In downtown New Orleans, some streets were merely wet rather than swamped. In Louisiana, New Orleans is of particular concern because much of that city lies below sea level. "It was that terrible. Floodwaters keep rising. It has been nearly six years since Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf of Mexico cutting a swathe of devastation and shock through the psyche of the American people. Mayor Ray Nagin orders the total evacuation of New Orleans due to the dangers posed by the contaminated standing water. City officials say 80 percent of New Orleans is flooded. background photo copyright 2005 corbis In fact, at the headquarters of the Louisiana National Guard, located in the Lower NinthWard, soldiers were not yet aware that the levees were giving way. A scene from 2006s 'When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts' (Photo: Everett Collection) This week marks a . Michael Brown, FEMA director: 'Rebirth in New Orleans' reflects on . In television interviews, Michael Brown, FEMA director, states that he only just heard about the suffering at the Convention Center, when in fact, he tells FRONTLINE, he misspoke; he was told the previous day about the situation. All I can tell you is that in the city of New Orleans we had maybe 250 guardsmen that we could account for. 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. Michael Chertoff, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, says he is "extremely pleased with the response of every element of the federal government and federal partners to this terrible tragedy." But I am happy to help, even if it takes me an extra two hours at the grocery store. 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. According to the New Orleans Data Center, racial disparities in income and employment are more pronounced in the city than they are nationally; the poverty rate is 11 points higher than the national average; and the incarceration rate is approximately three times the national average. Already, these preliminary cases show a high number of gang rapes and rapes by strangers, both unusual characteristics. Gallery. And I think thats whats going to help us rebuild the mosttalking about what happened and how we can move onand why documentaries like Trouble the Water are still so relevant. There was nobody there to protect you," Lewis says. The California Disaster Medical Assistance Team spent 24 hellish hours inside the Superdome. 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. ', So they went into another section of the plane, had a meeting. The Most Risky Job Ever. Reporting on ISIS in Afghanistan. By the end of the day, there are 30,000 people at the Superdome. National surveys show that half of all sexual assaults are never reported. 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. And you need to order mandatory evacuation. New Orleans's flood-protection system was improved by increasing in the heights of earthen berms and upgrading floodwalls and floodgates. And he said: 'Mr. 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. And the bosses say, 'Oh, okay. And in my opinion, it was this whole 'who has ultimate authority' and whether the federal government is going to come in and impinge upon the state's authority. home+introduction+watch online+interviews+analysis+14 days Floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina fill the streets near downtown New Orleans, La., on Aug. 30, 2005. Newly rescued people are still being brought to the Superdome. To get food out. The film a raw and gripping investigation of the Katrina response, its tragic consequences and its political ramifications includes candid interviews with key Katrina decision-makers, including the first televised interview with former FEMA Director Michael Brown since his resignation two weeks after Katrina hit. She made a report to a local sheriff's office; it has not yet passed the report on to the New Orleans police. 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. 1) At least 1,800 people died due to Hurricane Katrina. Abandoned cars remain on Interstate 10 in front of the heavily damaged Superdome September 14, 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He co-wrote the novel,"The Spencer Haywood Rule," and he was co-producer of the "Katrina Cop in the Superdome," a 2010 documentary about the experiences of a black New Orleans police officer and other citizens as they sheltered in the Louisiana Superdome during the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005. / 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. producer's chat+tapes & transcript+press reaction+credits+privacy policy You'll receive access to exclusive information and early alerts about our documentaries and investigations. A final, official tally of those killed in the disaster is still not in. Around 6 a.m., Category 4 Hurricane Katrina strikes the Gulf Coast with 145 mph maximum sustained winds. At a press conference in Baton Rouge, 80 miles away, Gov. Nobody cared.". And we said, "Plan your route carefully. ", At that time, I thought we had done a pretty good job because we had gotten about 80 percent of the people out. As the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, explore three different FRONTLINE documentaries about the disaster, its lingering aftermath and the lessons learned. Mississippi and Louisiana governors declare states of emergency. [2] Approximately 10,000 residents, along with about 150 National Guardsmen, sheltered in the Superdome anticipating Katrina's landfall. The Katrina images we see in the film -- people on rooftops, the Superdome being shredded by hurricane winds, dogs stranded in attics -- are ones that once would have been guaranteed to put lumps . But prosecutors have struggled to hold officers accountable. I wasnt poor before Katrina, and Im certainly not poor afterward, but Trouble the Water pisses me off all over again, in a good way. The Superdome is an intrinsic part of the city of New Orleans. "Some bad things happened, you know. Several thousand National Guard troops start reaching the thousands of evacuees at the Convention Center and elsewhere. Winds continue to damage or destroy buildings and blow out windows. We can only deal with what we know.". She says as she watched New Orleans descend into chaos after Katrina, she knew what would happen. The choice was either run the risk of becoming stranded or take a detour to wait the storm out for a day or two in the Superdome. At 7 am Katrina is a Category 5 with 160 mph maximum sustained winds. Within five hours I start to get reports from my staff members, who are out doing assessments, the water's rising. They were very civil and very cordial. 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 . (48) 7.4 1 h 13 min 2010 13+. The police department -- reeling from desertions, flooding and the immensity of the disaster -- was in a survival mode itself. And New Orleans itself has worked to rebuild. And Michael Brown was there listening. The National Weather Service writes that Hurricane Katrina is "one of the five deadliest hurricanes to ever strike the United States." Hurricane Katrina caused up to $161 billion worth of damage, largely due to the fact that the breached levees led to flooding in 80% of New Orleans. On Sept. 1, with desperate Hurricane Katrina evacuees crammed into the convention center, Police Chief Eddie Compass reported: "We . "I'm telling you the number of reported rapes we had.". [Secretary of Homeland Security Michael] Chertoff is there. And the president comes, and we have this meeting. Her husband [Raymond Blanco] is there. It is 45 miles northwest of Florida Keys. People begin arriving at the Ernest M. Morial Convention Center seeking shelter, food, and water. A shaft of light falls throught an opening in the fully evacuated Superdome on Sept. 5, 2005 in New Orleans, La. ". The storm initially formed as a tropical depression southeast of the Bahamas on August 23. Having largely emptied the cavernous Superdome, which had become a squalid pit of misery and violence, officials turned their attention to the Convention Center, where people waited to be evacuated as corpses rotted in the streets. The interviews done as part of this project reflect the disaster's painful, chaotic, and murky aftermath. We knew what had to be done. On August 28, 2005, at 6 am, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin announced that the Superdome would be used as a public shelter. Producer Martin Smith: So, although you said that, you didn't feel that way at that time? "I admit that rapes are underreported," Benelli says. Heres What the Claims Say and Where They Stand. 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." Kathleen Blanco: As Katrina hit, Alexander found himself in a desperate situation. by JOHN DORN. We arent looking for a handout, but its hard to believe that the city that we love (and everyone lovesthe Mardi Gras, the jazz, the hospitality!) Sept. 27, 2005, 12:58 PM PDT / Source: The Associated Press. "Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks perhaps longer. Mayor, we had a good meeting. And that is unacceptable. Gov. A Tropical Depression with 35 mph maximum sustained winds is located 250 miles east-southeast of southeast Florida. I am still going out into the streets every day to talk to people about their experiencesI call it getting phyllisophical. 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. New Orleans resident climbing through roof of house. Officials said the complete evacuation of New Orleans two days earlier was necessary, citing the prospect of diseases caused by rotting bodies and polluted waters as well as other risks caused by Hurricane Katrina. Since many New Orleans streets are still filled with stagnant, fetid waters smelling of garbage and raw sewage, the military was considering using planes to spray for mosquitoes.". The film features 15 minutes of live hurricane video shot by Kimberly Roberts, an aspiring rapper whose family was too poor to leave New Orleans, and follows Kims family and others through the horrific aftermath of the storm. You can change your choices at any time by clicking on the 'Privacy dashboard' links on our sites and apps. Visit us at HISTORY.com for more info. We do our video conference calls before and during disasters. Not Just the Levees Broke: My Story During and After Hurricane Katrina. Rapid Transit Authority buses pick up citizens and bring them to the Superdome, where the Louisiana National Guard has stocked enough MREs to feed 15,000 people for three days. It is 250 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. A hurricane warning is issued for north central Gulf Coast including New Orleans. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip). A Louisiana State University computer model of a 115 mph storm strike shows the overtopping of levees protecting New Orleans and nearby areas. Phyllis Montana-Leblanc is a Hurricane Katrina survivor. For my part, I am still going out into the streets every day to talk to people about their experiencesI call it getting phyllisophical. Other people call me the Dr. Phil of the streets. "They didn't have no food. Blanco announces New Orleans must be evacuated because of the still- rising water and uninhabitable conditions. "I realized how serious things were on Sunday. Thousands more were unable to evacuate, including the nearly 25,000 who sheltered in the Superdome. These three documentaries and nearly 190 more are all streaming online at pbs.org/frontline. Interstate 10 is shut down with damage to 40 percent of its Twin Span Bridge over Lake Ponchartrain. - Severe flooding damage to cities along the Gulf Coast, from New Orleans to . 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. About 2,000 medical evacuees remain at Louis Armstrong Airport, which has become a staging area for responders and injured refugees. "[On Air Force One] we gave the president a briefing on everything that had gone on. So I finally just walked up to Danny and said, Mr. His goal: To make it possible for his wife of 65 years, Lydia who had gone to live with one of their nine children in Wisconsin after Katrina to return home. Here's a [powerful] hurricane. HBO. We've all feared a catastrophic hurricane striking New Orleans. HBO. And then they'd gone around the room, and everybody's talking to the president and giving their opinions. I probably should have asked sooner. That she could turn this 15 minutes of footage into an Oscar-nominated documentaryIm amazed by it. ". ', We immediately did turn to the military and mission-assigned them to start doing airlifts, start bringing things in. I gave the governor two options. 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. The Louisiana National Guard's Jackson Barracks flood. Experts say it was the perfect environment to commit a crime, and the worst environment to report a crime. The storm flooded New Orleans, killed more than 1,800 people, and caused . The Times-Picayune reports the Convention Center evacuees are still being loaded onto buses and evacuated and search-and-rescue operations continue. Reports put the population there in the tens of thousands. I was able to get Governor Blanco to sit with me several times in the office that she had and talk about what needed to be done. Issues of race, class, government response and . In downtown New Orleans, some streets were merely wet rather than swamped. After being damaged by. But problems persist. Storm refugees reported being raped, shot and robbed, gangs of teenagers hijacked boats meant to rescue them, and frustrated hurricane victims menaced outmanned law officers. The National Guards didn't want to hear it.". " After Katrina passed, we thought we're pretty much out of the woods. " Troops poured in to restore order after almost a week of near-anarchy.