And I had a piece of paper where I wrote down like a five-point plan of the things that we needed to do. The Army Corps of Engineers attempts to plug breaches in the 17th Street Canal and Industrial Canal levees. These three documentaries and nearly 190 more are all streaming online at pbs.org/frontline. Virtually all communication systems are out. ', And we left and had a press conference. Her husband [Raymond Blanco] is there. More women are coming forward with stories of sexual assault in the lawless days after the storm. Hurricane Katrina, tropical cyclone that struck the southeastern United States in late August 2005. 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. Blanco says, "Mr. President, thank you thank you, thank you. 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 . Every little thing helps. [Governor Blanco] probably should have asked sooner. 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 . We have got to start getting people out.' . / 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. And then they'd gone around the room, and everybody's talking to the president and giving their opinions. We had pre-positioned supplies, medical teams, Meals Ready To Eat, and food in the Superdome. He didn't care where the help came from, he just wanted it to be there. And we need to get these people out of the Superdome because it's a shelter of last resort, and they only have a limited amount of resources.". But problems persist. Four were wounded, and 17-year-old James Brisette and 40-year-old Ronald Madison were killed. ", Richard Falkenrath, Homeland Security Adviser (2001-2004): by JOHN DORN. 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. And he was the first guy that told us about the amount of devastation and the levee breaches. "I think that that was probably over-reported," he says. A hurricane warning is issued for the Southeast Florida coast. At daybreak, rescuers set out on boats to help others still stranded. 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. 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. 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. When Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans poet Shelton Alexander to evacuate his home, he took his truck and video camera to the Superdome. The hurricane caused billions of dollars of damage to the city, and killed thousands. Required fields are marked *. And he basically asked me, 'Mr. Winds continue to damage or destroy buildings and blow out windows. At 1:30 in the morning, Denise Thornton walked with her group up to the helipad, out in the open air, and there it was. "Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks perhaps longer. If you would like to customise your choices, click 'Manage privacy settings'. I said, 'OK, great.' Walter Maestri, Jefferson Parish emergency manager: During Hurricane Katrina, around 20,000 people took refuge 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. In downtown New Orleans, some streets were merely wet rather than swamped. When presented with the additional cases collected by victims' advocates groups, Benelli acknowledges that the police simply doesn't know the extent of sex crimes after the storm. Other people call me the Dr. Phil of the streets.. Here in New Orleans East, we desperately need a hospital. Evacuating hospitals is a top priority: Patients and staff are stranded and supplies and power are dwindling. William E. Brown Jr. -. The eye of Hurricane Katrina made landfall near Buras in Plaquemines Parish at approximately 6:00 a.m. on August 29 as a Category 3 hurricane. 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. "All I know is on Wednesday night I was convinced that there were no FEMA buses. But we were working frantically to get it out. No, they weren't. Producer Martin Smith: So, although you said that, you didn't feel that way at that time? The Mercedes-Benz Superdome is a landmark in the city of New Orleans. [He] came on site, I think it was Monday after the event. hide caption. A timeline of the warnings, some of the decisions leading up to the disaster, and what went wrong with the government's response. 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. 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. 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. "To cries of 'Thank you, Jesus!' "At that stage, we had mission-assigned the Department of Defense to start giving us everything they could in terms of air-lift capability. 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. Television reporters, live on the scene at the Convention Center, report on the growing crisis. The Times-Picayune reports that an estimated 112,000 people do not own cars. Team members said they delivered babies, treated gunshot and stab victims, and ultimately fled for their own safety. It took me too long and I worked too hard to build what I had here.. 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. Walter Maestri, Jefferson Parish emergency manager: "[On Air Force One] we gave the president a briefing on everything that had gone on. Twenty-five thousand miserable people - many of whom lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina - hunkered down with little food and little water, overflowing toilets, stifling heat and the . Theme Foto Blog by, Hundreds Evacuated as Vanuatu Braces for Second Cyclone in 2 Days. Directed by New Orleans native Edward Buckles Jr., who was a teenager when Katrina struck, the documentary, which premieres Thursday on HBO, reminds us of the storm's real-life ramifications. Ten years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast and generated a huge disaster. That's where Katrina Babies comes in. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. But I am happy to help, even if it takes me an extra two hours at the grocery store. By the end of the day, it is upgraded to Tropical Storm Katrina, with 50 mph maximum sustained winds. City officials say 80 percent of New Orleans is flooded. Because of the ensuing . Listen 7:57. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Nearly two decades after Hurricane Katrina, Edward Buckles Jr. asks what happened to the generation of kids who grew up with that trauma in the documentary "Katrina Babies" on HBO Max. August 28, 2015, 2:21 PM. I went to the Adjutant General [Landreneau] and I went to Gov. The storm that would later become Hurricane Katrina surfaced on August 23, 2005, as a tropical depression over the Bahamas, approximately 350 miles (560 km) east of Miami. They didn't have ammunition. "A week after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans state officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say once the canal level is drawn down two feet, Pumping Station 6 can begin pumping water out of the bowl-shaped city. Within five hours I start to get reports from my staff members, who are out doing assessments, the water's rising. 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. I think we both should have asked sooner.". So I can assume what the criminals were thinking, and that's exactly what happened.". Web Site Copyright 1995-2023 WGBH Educational Foundation. web site copyright 1995-2014 background photo copyright 2005 corbis When we didn't get any assistance from the state or from FEMA in the time period that we thought was appropriate, I got someone in an automobile and said, 'Go to Baton Rouge, go find out. We have Brad Pitt and Chris Rocks wife here now, and I think collectively its making a huge, huge difference. " Troops poured in to restore order after almost a week of near-anarchy. Gallery. "It was that terrible. It is 250 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. 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. Driving in from the popular suburb of Metairie, it's the first building you pass. 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. Here's a [powerful] hurricane. "There was a period of days when we weren't sure who was directing the federal response and were all the actions being taken. I began to believe that no buses had been ordered. I talk to her every other day, and thats her main question How long is it going to be? 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. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warning: Plus, if you lived in a FEMA trailer for three years like I did, the last thing you want to do is go to a trailer for medical care. And we said, "Plan your route carefully. Katrina Cop in the Superdome. FEMA National Situation Update: Michael Brown, FEMA director: 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. Mayor, we had a good meeting. She is at work on her next memoir, No More Wire Hangers, about domestic abuse in teenage relationships. U.S. Cities and States Are Suing Big Oil Over Climate Change. Female victims, now displaced from New Orleans, are slowly coming forward with a different story than the official one. Ultimately, more than 300 soldiers would be trapped inside their own headquarters. Kathleen Blanco, governor of Louisiana: National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield tells the Times-Picayune newspaper, "This is scary this is the real thing." sharechat interview experience,