National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warning: It is 250 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Gallery. 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 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. ISIS is in Afghanistan, But Who Are They Really? Anastasia says thugs were still wandering the streets of her neighborhood more than a week after the flood. I laid that out for him. Just last week, a federal court ordered a new trial for five officers convicted of the Danziger Bridge shootings. 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. 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. Patrice Taddonio. The groups went in shifts, sneaking down over to the garage, up the stairs and to the helipad. These defenses held for Hurricane Ida, a category 4 storm, in August 2021. - Severe flooding damage to cities along the Gulf Coast, from New Orleans to . In the first few hours after Katrina hit, many people believed that New Orleans had dodged a bullet. "I know more sexual assaults took place. 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. 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 president was a little stunned, and he kind of stepped back, and he recovered. 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 . Throughout the day, emergency responders and public officials complain that communication links are very poor. 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. Mayor Ray Nagin orders the total evacuation of New Orleans due to the dangers posed by the contaminated standing water. Commander Dave Lipin says they saw two women who said they'd been raped -- different women than those the police attended to. And that was that.". In all, more than 1,500 died either duringthe storm or inthe famouslybungled aftermath which saw local, state, and federal officials uncoordinated and overwhelmed. . [Mayor Nagin] was upset with everything. "They didn't have no food. The California Disaster Medical Assistance Team spent 24 hellish hours inside the Superdome. 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. Troops poured in to restore order after almost a week of near-anarchy. People continue to head towards the Superdome, which is now surrounded by water. A suicide did occur inside the Superdome, . Kathleen Blanco, governor of Louisiana: "I admit that rapes are underreported," Benelli says. ", Gov. 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. Stranded victims of Hurricane Katrina rest inside the Superdome September 2, 2005 in New Orleans. Issues of race, class, government response and responsibility, and political rivalries . Believing the authorities abandoned her after the storm, she wonders why they would care about her now. Judy Benitez, of the Louisiana rape crisis group, says the non-report rate would be far higher given the nightmare of Katrina. , "Law and order all but broke down in New Orleans over the past few days. Katrina anniversary: Inside the Superdome during Katrina. You'll receive access to exclusive information and early alerts about our documentaries and investigations. Thousands more were unable to evacuate, including the nearly 25,000 who sheltered in 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. And then they'd gone around the room, and everybody's talking to the president and giving their opinions. Kathleen Blanco: Thousands of displaced residents take cover from Hurricane Katrina at the Superdome in New . Recalling her attack, she sobs, "They just left us to die. And they hadn't. Producer Martin Smith: Were they going back and forth with each other? And then finally I just stopped and said: 'Excuse me, but time is of the essence. "A close eye will be kept this system could strengthen ". "I didn't see any police officers -- I could have gotten away with murder," she says. Buckles' intimate connection to the people he interviews many of them family members, friends, and former . Around this time 17 years ago, Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, and permanently . The city floods further. The outer ends of the hurricane also produced tornados . The hurricane and its aftermath claimed more than 1,800 lives, and it ranked as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. 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. Rescuers drop them off wherever there is high ground; many are dropped at interstate overpasses and the Superdome. The Superdome is an intrinsic part of the city of New Orleans. 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. When Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans poet Shelton Alexander to evacuate his home, he took his truck and video camera to the Superdome. Find out in the 2015 documentary Outbreak, newly available to stream on FRONTLINEs YouTube channel. In New Orleans last year, there was a rape every other day on average. Katrina caused more than $160 billion in damage. Crime is at an all-time high. Then we kind of figure out ways that we could coordinate. Years later, much of the money committed to New Orleans residents had yet to reach them. The networks all-original programming slate features a roster of hit series, epic miniseries, and scripted event programming. Blanco tours the area Tuesday evening and announces that the Superdome should be evacuated. Ten years ago this Saturday, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast. The storm initially formed as a tropical depression southeast of the Bahamas on August 23. 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. Law-enforcement authorities dismissed early reports of widespread rapes in New Orleans during the lawless days following Hurricane Katrina. I don't think that's the proper thing to do. 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,. The line to get in was already a quarter-mile long. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. There's this lunch. Exclusive: A Former MPD Lieutenant Reported Another Cop. Refuge of last resort: Five days inside the Superdome for Hurricane Katrina. Its efforts fail. President Bush arrives in New Orleans and holds a meeting on Air Force One with federal and local officials. He announces FEMA is moving supplies and equipment into the hardest hit areas. Inside the four triage tents, medical personnel tended to people who had gone for days without their medication. In the 2005 documentary "In His Own Words: Brian Williams on Hurricane Katrina," Williams indicated that he wasn't a witness to the suicide. At landfall, Katrina's maximum winds were about 125 miles per hour (mph) to the east of its center. As of Nov. 22, 2005, more than 900 people are known to have died in New Orleans. FEMA Situation Update: 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. A hurricane warning is issued for north central Gulf . Two national crime-victims' groups have reported a spike in the number of reported rapes that happened to storm evacuees. "We know about all the other things that happened, all the thefts, all the robberies. Phone service and electricity to some 770,000 people in the area is cut off. As the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, explore three different FRONTLINE documentaries about the disaster, its lingering aftermath and the lessons learned. "[On Air Force One] we gave the president a briefing on everything that had gone on. 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 . Visit us at HISTORY.com for more info. 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. I've expressed many times that we're willing to investigate any sexual assaults that happened in this city at any time. After her rape, Lewis says, there were no clinics open, so she washed herself with bleach. A Louisiana State University computer model of a 115 mph storm strike shows the overtopping of levees protecting New Orleans and nearby areas. 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 . Katrina first made landfall in South Florida. About 16,000 people . And I said [to the president], "Here's my piece of paper. Why would we think there was less rape typical of any given week in the city? And New Orleans itself has worked to rebuild. The two of us are going to leave. It regained strength as its path turned northwest. Newly rescued people are still being brought to the Superdome. But I am happy to help, even if it takes me an extra two hours at the grocery store. Here's the things I think we need to focus on. 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. 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. There are still areas that look like Katrina hit yesterday. Conditions are deteriorating with bathrooms overflowing, no power for air conditioning and little food and water. FEMA National Situation Update: Here's a [powerful] hurricane. I aint about to leave, Gettridge said. 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. They were finally able to leave the city on Saturday. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies . 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 . 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. By the end of the day, there are 30,000 people at the Superdome. In September 2006, the New Orleans Saints marched into the Superdome for their first game since Hurricane Katrina, providing the spark for a revival. But prosecutors have struggled to hold officers accountable. President Bush's Sept. 15th address to the nation. In a documentary aired in October 2005 on the Sundance Channel, "In His Own Words: Brian Williams on Hurricane Katrina," Williams said, . Mayor, what do you need?' The situation begins to improve. Around 8 a.m. the storm's eye passes eastern New Orleans. Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News/epa/Corbis And the guard unitspent most of the next 24 hours saving itself. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome is a landmark in the city of New Orleans. I think we both should have asked sooner.". Katrina Cop in the Superdome. Gov. All I can tell you is that in the city of New Orleans we had maybe 250 guardsmen that we could account for. Persons, pets, and livestock exposed to the winds will face certain death if struck. [Secretary of Homeland Security Michael] Chertoff is there. Gov. FEMA Situation Update: More women are coming forward with stories of sexual . More than a million people were displaced in the days leading up to and following . Within five hours I start to get reports from my staff members, who are out doing assessments, the water's rising. The storm flooded New Orleans, killed more than 1,800 people, and caused . 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. 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. 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. 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 sits on the edge of a bed in a dingy, dimly lit room in a motel in Baton Rouge. We'd sent them all the information they needed. "There was a period of days when we weren't sure who was directing the federal response and were all the actions being taken. 1. ", Leo Bosner, FEMA watch officer: We'll put a couple of medical teams on standby. The vast majority of them were elderly. Kathleen Blanco: He also announces that the Superdome will be "a shelter of last resort for evacuees with special needs." 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". 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. 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 Four were wounded, and 17-year-old James Brisette and 40-year-old Ronald Madison were killed. A decade later . A shaft of light falls throught an opening in the fully evacuated Superdome on Sept. 5, 2005 in New Orleans, La. Around 9:30 a.m. Mayor Ray Nagin issues a mandatory evacuation. And I said, "We're doing one in the morning.". On August 28, 2005, at 6 am, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin announced that the Superdome would be used as a public shelter. ". 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. He didn't even know what efforts had been made on his behalf because he had no lines of communications open to him. In downtown New Orleans, some streets were merely wet rather than swamped. Here's all these thousands of people that don't have any way to get out of the city. Blanco says, "Mr. President, thank you thank you, thank you. Where is food? Left to right: Mayor Ray Nagin, President Bush, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, FEMA Director Michael Brown, Gov. And nothing happened. The Times-Picayune reports that an estimated 112,000 people do not own cars. "I at least wanted a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans and the surrounding parishes [on Saturday]. 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 you need to order mandatory evacuation. Walter Maestri, Jefferson Parish emergency manager: Flooding grows as water surges over levee breaks from Lake Ponchartrain; the 9th Ward is almost entirely submerged. We knew what had to be done. Katrina Babies is an assertion of presence, a proclamation that the devastating hurricane is not simply a past story, but a present one too. 'Rebirth in New Orleans' reflects on . She describes . After suffering heavy damage during Hurricane Katrina, the Superdome was re-opened on September 25, 2006 for the Saints' Monday night game against the Falcons. If you do not want us and our partners to use cookies and personal data for these additional purposes, click 'Reject all'. And he was the first guy that told us about the amount of devastation and the levee breaches. 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. Watch it: For a powerful story of resilience and determination in the face of tragedy. Tonight, the Oscar-nominated Trouble the Watera documentary by filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, premieres on HBO. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. ". 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. We do our video conference calls before and during disasters. During Hurricane Katrina, then known as the Louisiana Superdome, the arena was used as . "Katrina will regenerate on Friday over Gulf of Mexico, head west-northwest then turn northward. I've heard some terrible stories since that the stuff wasn't getting there. Mayor, we had a good meeting. Why haven't the bosses decided to move the people out?' She says she tried to report the assault at the time, but authorities weren't listening. To get food out. ISIS' growing foothold in Afghanistan is captured on film. Victims of Hurricane Katrina fight through the crowd as they line up for buses to evacuate the Superdome and New Orleans, Sept. 1, 2005. When Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans poet Shelton Alexander to evacuate his home, he took his truck and video camera to the Superdome. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 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. "I went into New Orleans and stood beside Mayor Nagin and emphasized the need to leave. Katrina becomes a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph maximum sustained winds. 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. ", Mayor Ray Nagin: Rentals include 30 days to start watching this video and 48 hours to finish once started. Hurricane Katrina created enormous public health and medical challenges, especially in Louisiana and MississippiStates with public health infrastructures that ranked 49th and 50th in the Nation, respectively. We need you to take over logistics, distribution of commodities, etc. And he had flown in a helicopter. And that this could potentially be the big one that we had planned for in Hurricane Pam.". Your email address will not be published. As Katrina hit, Alexander found himself in a desperate situation. Anastasia is a petite, 25-year-old hairdresser who asked that her last name be omitted. Team members said they delivered babies, treated gunshot and stab victims, and ultimately fled for their own safety. "[Michael] Brown I did not see the first couple of days. She says as she watched New Orleans descend into chaos after Katrina, she knew what would happen. 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. The Times-Picayune reports the Convention Center evacuees are still being loaded onto buses and evacuated and search-and-rescue operations continue. Glover, you dont know me, but Im Phyllis, and I was in another Katrina documentary and I have to see this film! He grabbed onto me and I wouldnt let go until I got a seat insidethats the way I am. I said, 'OK, great.' 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. And I had a piece of paper where I wrote down like a five-point plan of the things that we needed to do. There is a belief that the city has avoided a direct hit. background photo copyright 2005 corbis A Tropical Depression with 35 mph maximum sustained winds is located 250 miles east-southeast of southeast Florida. 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. It was there, she says, that an unknown man with a handgun sexually assaulted her. But the problem was that because of the fear that resulted from the civil unrest, the bus drivers said, 'We're not going in there to pick these people up unless you put a law enforcement official on every one of the buses, because we're afraid. Their back-up generators flooded. Driving in from the popular suburb of Metairie, it's the first building you pass. "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. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. Airborne debris will be widespread and may include heavy items such as household appliances and even light vehicles. And he passes, literally, hundreds of school buses lined up to come and get these folks. 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. By the end of the day, it is upgraded to Tropical Storm Katrina, with 50 mph maximum sustained winds. I said, 'We need to do this.' 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 . They lost power. She is at work on her next memoir, No More Wire Hangers, about domestic abuse in teenage relationships. The expected storm surge is 15 to 20 feet, locally as high as 25 feet. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty. "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. And, in 2004, FEMA sponsored a disaster planning exercise in which the scenario was a major hurricane striking New Orleans. 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. They didn't have water. By. ', So they went into another section of the plane, had a meeting. 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.

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