The Louisiana National Guard's Jackson Barracks flood. It regained strength as its path turned northwest. Marty Bahamonde/FEMA. Several parishes and the city of New Orleans announce emergency responders will stop venturing out once the wind exceeds 45 mph. A final, official tally of those killed in the disaster is still not in. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. Kathleen Blanco: U.S. Cities and States Are Suing Big Oil Over Climate Change. He escaped the chaotic shelter a few days . Television reporters, live on the scene at the Convention Center, report on the growing crisis. Issues of race, class, government response and responsibility, and political rivalries interweave with personal stories of challenges faced and decisions made. ", Gov. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty. Note: In the last hours before Katrina made landfall, dozens of copies of the Hurricane Pam report are distributed to emergency planners. Here's a [powerful] hurricane. About 2,000 medical evacuees remain at Louis Armstrong Airport, which has become a staging area for responders and injured refugees. Team members said they delivered babies, treated gunshot and stab victims, and ultimately fled for their own safety. More women are coming forward with stories of sexual . Around this time 17 years ago, Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, and . Crime is at an all-time high. [Mayor Nagin] was upset with everything. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. 7:577-Minute Listen. President Bush's Sept. 15th address to the nation. 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. Residents are bringing their belongings and lining up to get into the Superdome which has been opened as a hurricane shelter in advance of hurricane Katrina. " from my view sitting inside a windowless room at FEMA headquarters during my nightshift we are working to coordinate with our federal partners, to get water out. Then, the airman hesitated a minute, and asked Landreneau to hold. Why haven't the bosses decided to move the people out?' We'll put a couple of medical teams on standby. People begin arriving at the Ernest M. Morial Convention Center seeking shelter, food, and water. Most residents have evacuated the city and those left behind do not have transportation or have special needs. The groups went in shifts, sneaking down over to the garage, up the stairs and to the helipad. Around this time 17 years ago, Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, and permanently changed life for thousands of people across the country. Judy Benitez, of the Louisiana rape crisis group, says the non-report rate would be far higher given the nightmare of Katrina. '", Mayor Ray Nagin August 27, 2015, 2:18 PM. [Governor Blanco] probably should have asked sooner. Refuge of last resort: Five days inside the Superdome for Hurricane Katrina. Mississippi and Louisiana governors declare states of emergency. Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News/epa/Corbis ". Katrina makes landfall near Grand Isle, Louisiana as a Category 3 storm with winds near 127 mph. The line to get in was already a quarter-mile long. There's no question.". [He] came on site, I think it was Monday after the event. It is 250 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. He estimates 5,000 to 10,000 people are still in the city, with many of them still waiting to be rescued. And Michael Brown tells FRONTLINE that in order to quell panic, he misled the public in saying that everything was going fine at the local level. I don't think that's the proper thing to do. Virtually all communication systems are out. Already, these preliminary cases show a high number of gang rapes and rapes by strangers, both unusual characteristics. Blanco tours the area Tuesday evening and announces that the Superdome should be evacuated. Panels blew off and the roof was severely damaged, but it was the only shelter . New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies . "All I know is on Wednesday night I was convinced that there were no FEMA buses. By midday, water levels between the city and Lake Ponchartrain have equalized. At 7 am Katrina is a Category 5 with 160 mph maximum sustained winds. 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." The majority of industrial buildings will become non functional. In a documentary aired in October 2005 on the Sundance Channel, "In His Own Words: Brian Williams on Hurricane Katrina," Williams said, . Rescuers drop them off wherever there is high ground; many are dropped at interstate overpasses and the Superdome. When Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans poet Shelton Alexander to evacuate his home, he took his truck and video camera to the Superdome. "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. 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. 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. Michael Brown, FEMA director: Michael Brown, FEMA director: And then somebody came and called me and said, 'The president would like to see you.' At a press conference in Baton Rouge, 80 miles away, Gov. FRONTLINE reports from Iraq on the miscalculations and mistakes behind the brutal rise of ISIS. And we said, "Plan your route carefully. 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. But prosecutors have struggled to hold officers accountable. 49 But it was the subsequent flooding of New Orleans that imposed catastrophic public health conditions on the people of southern . 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. I gave people clues on how to pack. We do our video conference calls before and during disasters. Katrina Cop in the Superdome. "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. Find out more about how we use your personal data in our privacy policy and cookie policy. 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. But a growing body of evidence suggests there were more storm-related sexual assaults than previously known. As the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, explore three different FRONTLINE documentaries about the disaster, its lingering aftermath and the lessons learned. And [FEMA Director] Michael Brown was with me at that time. We have got to start getting people out.' Around this time 17 years ago, Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, and permanently changed life for thousands of people across the country. President Bush declares Louisiana and Mississippi major disaster areas. Reports stream in from people needing rescue. "We know about all the other things that happened, all the thefts, all the robberies. If you would like to customise your choices, click 'Manage privacy settings'. In the 2005 documentary "In His Own Words: Brian Williams on Hurricane Katrina," Williams indicated that he wasn't a witness to the suicide. There's this lunch. Four were wounded, and 17-year-old James Brisette and 40-year-old Ronald Madison were killed. Walter Maestri, Jefferson Parish emergency manager: Richard Falkenrath, Homeland Security Adviser (2001-2004): In Fight Against ISIS, a Lose-Lose Scenario Poses Challenge for West. "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. 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. 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. That is why the first place we picked to do an exercise and planning was New Orleans. Over 1,800 people lost their lives in the hurricane and an estimated 1 million people were displaced from their homes. "The police was stressed out themselves," Lewis says. 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. 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. 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. 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. The Army Corps of Engineers renews work to fix the breach in the 17th St. Canal. Around this time 17 years ago, Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, and permanently changed life for thousands of people across the country. We knew what had to be done. 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. Flew into the city. Half of telephone service is back. When Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans poet Shelton Alexander to evacuate his home, he took his truck and video camera to the Superdome. Ten years ago this Saturday, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast. Gov. 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. Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans: Get as many people out as possible. We need you to take over logistics, distribution of commodities, etc. The vast majority of them were elderly. He says his team only saw a fraction of the desperate people who sought assistance. Hurricane Katrina becomes Category 2 by 11 am, with 100 mph maximum sustained winds. , "Law and order all but broke down in New Orleans over the past few days. 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. Later, his charred remains were discovered on the banks of the Mississippi River, inside a car that had apparently been set on fire. August 28, 2005. Heres What the Claims Say and Where They Stand. Anastasia is a petite, 25-year-old hairdresser who asked that her last name be omitted. Victims of Hurricane Katrina fight through the crowd as they line up for buses to evacuate the Superdome and New Orleans, Sept. 1, 2005. Power outages will last for weeks water shortages will make human suffering incredible by modern standards.". Rescue efforts are delayed because of the inability of rescuers to communicate with each other. They didn't have communication. And they hadn't. Walter Maestri, Jefferson Parish emergency manager: 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. President Bush arrives in New Orleans and holds a meeting on Air Force One with federal and local officials. And he passes, literally, hundreds of school buses lined up to come and get these folks. Because of the ensuing . The National Guards didn't want to hear it.". The police department -- reeling from desertions, flooding and the immensity of the disaster -- was in a survival mode itself. And at that time I took some liberties I probably shouldn't take. by JOHN DORN. More women are coming forward with stories of sexual assault in the lawless days after the storm. Experts say it was the perfect environment to commit a crime, and the worst environment to report a crime. The following year, during an interview with Tom Brokaw at Columbia Journalism School, Williams said, "We watched, all of us watched . She says as she watched New Orleans descend into chaos after Katrina, she knew what would happen. We've all feared a catastrophic hurricane striking New Orleans. hurricane katrina anniversary: 40 powerful photos of New Orleans after the storm. I went to the Adjutant General [Landreneau] and I went to Gov. She made a report to a local sheriff's office; it has not yet passed the report on to the New Orleans police. They cast a wide net over this important event and Oh, absolutely not. 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. People can say that writing a check doesnt mean anything, but honey, it does. We, Yahoo, are part of the Yahoo family of brands. FEMA Situation Update: ", 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. By the end of the day, it is upgraded to Tropical Storm Katrina, with 50 mph maximum sustained winds. I've heard some terrible stories since that the stuff wasn't getting there. Issues of race, class, government response and . 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 . 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 At daybreak, rescuers set out on boats to help others still stranded. I just expressed to her my concern about the lack of unified command, and the need to have more of a structure of what was going on. A hurricane warning is issued for north central Gulf . Looting becomes more widespread; hotels begin turning out guests. Katrina first made landfall in South Florida. 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. Buses have started evacuating people at the Superdome, but at the Convention Center thousands are still waiting and conditions continue to deteriorate there. And they both shook their heads and said, 'Yes, you're right.' 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. The Times-Picayune reports that 4,600 active duty troops under the command of Gen. Russel Honor arrive in New Orleans. The Army Corps of Engineers attempts to plug breaches in the 17th Street Canal and Industrial Canal levees. Hurricane Katrina [ edit] Refugees on the field inside the Superdome, August 28. Trapped on Airline Drive in a traffic jam in his gas-depleted pickup truck, he didn't think he would reach his destination of Baton Rouge. And Michael Brown was there listening. And he basically asked me, 'Mr. Katrina Babies is an assertion of presence, a proclamation that the devastating hurricane is not simply a past story, but a present one too. And that this could potentially be the big one that we had planned for in Hurricane Pam.". But while the Superdome has been reclaimed, those stories of trauma remain, and some roil pretty close to . 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 . August 28, 2015, 2:21 PM. Floodwaters keep rising. It was there, she says, that an unknown man with a handgun sexually assaulted her. FRONTLINE home+WGBH+PBS, FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of wgbh educational foundation. Police Chief Eddie Compass admitted even his own officers had taken food and water from stores. More than 1,800 people died in what was the costliest . The account of her rape was verified by a trained forensic nurse at Earl K. Long Hospital in Baton Rouge, where Lewis sought treatment. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. 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 . 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. She requests President Bush to declare a state of emergency in Louisiana. "Media reports attribute Katrina with four fatalities [in Florida], more than a million customers were without electricity". 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. . During Hurricane Katrina, then known as the Louisiana Superdome, the arena was used as . The only person I saw from FEMA was basically this guy named Marty [Bahamonde]. It was called "Hurricane Pam" and the exercise was conducted with state and local emergency managers. Mayor, we had a good meeting. 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. Sept. 15, 2005, 7:50 AM PDT. 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. Theres a river of water moving into this area.'. They lost power. 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. By the end of the day, there are 30,000 people at the Superdome. Widespread looting continues. Hundreds of people already have been rescued. I think we both should have asked sooner.". And if you dont trust the system to deliver the money to the right places, call a school yourself and ask them what they need. Ultimately, more than 300 soldiers would be trapped inside their own headquarters. 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. In New Orleans last year, there was a rape every other day on average. 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. " After Katrina passed, we thought we're pretty much out of the woods. They spend the next 24 hours trying to save themselves. Bring enough to sustain yourself, your family, your children. Copyright All rights reserved. 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. ISIS' growing foothold in Afghanistan is captured on film. "What you had was a situation where you've got a tremendous number of vulnerable people, and then some predatory people who had all of the reasons to take their anger out on someone else," Benitez says. 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. To get food out. 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!) This escapism was part of the gift the Saints gave the city following Hurricane Katrina. ", Mayor Ray Nagin: Inside the four triage tents, medical personnel tended to people who had gone for days without their medication. And the guard unitspent most of the next 24 hours saving itself. In all honesty, we begin looting. More than four days after the storm hit, the caravan of at least three-dozen camouflage-green troop vehicles and supply trucks arrived along with dozens of air-conditioned buses to take refugees out of the city. He came right back and he said, I dont know why, but theres probably a foot of water on Claiborne Street, Landreneau said. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. One woman told me she was going to commit suicide after Katrina, and that she saw Spike Lees documentary, and I saved her life. The outer ends of the hurricane also produced tornados . 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 . On Sept. 1, with desperate Hurricane Katrina evacuees crammed into the convention center, Police Chief Eddie Compass reported: "We . The Convention Center becomes a destination for walk-in refugees seeking evacuation. A New Orleans house submerged in floodwaters. I had all the police, the firefighters in rescue mode, so the looting thing started to rear its head. It doesn't make any sense.". [Note: The information in this timeline is drawn from the news and government agencies' reports, as published daily during the crisis, and from FRONTLINE's research and reporting.]. Ms. Blanco, she left and walked out. Thousands more were unable to evacuate, including the nearly 25,000 who sheltered in the Superdome. 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. Abandoned cars remain on Interstate 10 in front of the heavily damaged Superdome September 14, 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Here's all these thousands of people that don't have any way to get out of the city. Before Hurricane Katrina hit, New Orleans residents gathered to ride out the storm in what seemed like a pretty safe place, the Superdome, the city's football stadium . Hurricane Katrina first made landfall on Aug. 25, 2005, in Florida, weakening to a tropical storm as it briefly passed over land. City officials say 80 percent of New Orleans is flooded. She is at work on her next memoir, No More Wire Hangers, about domestic abuse in teenage relationships. With camera lenses and lights abounding, the . At 7 am Katrina is a Category 5 with 160 mph maximum sustained winds. An Unfiltered View: Producers of Police on Trial on What the Documentary Reveals 2 Years After the Murder of George Floyd, From the Archives: How the World's Deadliest Ebola Outbreak Unfolded, Russias Invasion of Ukraine, One Year Later, War Crimes Watch Ukraine: More Than 650 Documented Events, From the Archives: How the U.N. & World Failed Darfur Amid "the 21st Century's First Genocide". Here in New Orleans East, we desperately need a hospital. We were moving school buses in. 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. It is 250 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. I immediately hung up the phone, called my city attorney because they had always advised that you can't do a mandatory evacuation. The Times-Picayune reports that an estimated 112,000 people do not own cars. 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. Producer Martin Smith: So we're just eating sandwiches and making nice while people are stranded on rooftops? And I said, "We're doing one in the morning.". Kathleen Blanco. 'Rebirth in New Orleans' reflects on . I gave the governor two options. Hurricane Katrina made landfall off the coast of Louisiana on August 29, 2005. 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. 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. New Orleans's flood-protection system was improved by increasing in the heights of earthen berms and upgrading floodwalls and floodgates. ", Leo Bosner, FEMA watch officer: 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. So I finally just walked up to Danny and said, Mr. As Katrina hit, Alexander found himself in a desperate situation. Troops poured in to restore order after almost a week of near-anarchy. And you need to order mandatory evacuation. Visit us at HISTORY.com for more info. And the president comes, and we have this meeting. "I didn't see any police officers -- I could have gotten away with murder," she says. They didn't have ammunition. And, in 2004, FEMA sponsored a disaster planning exercise in which the scenario was a major hurricane striking New Orleans. 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.".
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