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Gallery. Military and Coast Guard helicopters flew a steady stream of evacuees from hospitals and rooftops to the airport southwest of downtown. I've never seen a hurricane like this in my 33-year career. In a documentary aired in October 2005 on the Sundance Channel, "In His Own Words: Brian Williams on Hurricane Katrina," Williams said, . 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. In September 2006, the New Orleans Saints marched into the Superdome for their first game since Hurricane Katrina, providing the spark for a revival. "The police was stressed out themselves," Lewis says. FEMA National Situation Update: [Governor Blanco] probably should have asked sooner. The Times-Picayune reports the Convention Center evacuees are still being loaded onto buses and evacuated and search-and-rescue operations continue. Walter Maestri, Jefferson Parish emergency manager: TV-PG. 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. Kathleen Blanco: producer's chat+tapes & transcript+press reaction+credits+privacy policy I talk to her every other day, and thats her main question How long is it going to be? New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. Producer Martin Smith: So, although you said that, you didn't feel that way at that time? Mayor Ray Nagin orders the total evacuation of New Orleans due to the dangers posed by the contaminated standing water. And I said [to the president], 'Look, we talked about that option, and then we also talked about another option, that we would federalize, and the governor said she needed time to think about it. It hit land as a Category 3 storm with winds reaching speeds as high as 120 miles per hour. 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." New Orleans resident climbing through roof of house. Tonight, the Oscar-nominated Trouble the Watera documentary by filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, premieres on HBO. ', So they went into another section of the plane, had a meeting. "It was that terrible. And he passes, literally, hundreds of school buses lined up to come and get these folks. The Army Corps of Engineers projects it could take 80 days to pump the water out of the city. Kathleen Blanco. Mayor, what do you need?' And that this could potentially be the big one that we had planned for in Hurricane Pam.". 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. 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. FEMA Situation Update: Katrina Cop in the Superdome. No, they weren't. Experts say it was the perfect environment to commit a crime, and the worst environment to report a crime. The networks all-original programming slate features a roster of hit series, epic miniseries, and scripted event programming. Rentals include 30 days to start watching this video and 48 hours to finish once started. Lt. Dave Benelli, commander of the sex crimes unit with the New Orleans Police Department, denies that. We knew what had to be done. Flew into the city. "At that stage, we had mission-assigned the Department of Defense to start giving us everything they could in terms of air-lift capability. Two national crime-victims' groups have reported a spike in the number of reported rapes that happened to storm evacuees. On Sept. 15, 2005, in an address to the nation, President Bush declares, "It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces -- the institution of our government most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice.". The National Guards didn't want to hear it.". And then they'd gone around the room, and everybody's talking to the president and giving their opinions. Around this time 17 years ago, Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, and . 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. 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. At least one half of well constructed homes will have roof and wall failure. And then he was gone after a while.". 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. 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. The following year, during an interview with Tom Brokaw at Columbia Journalism School, Williams said, "We watched, all of us watched . Copyright All rights reserved. Meanwhile, Lewis, the 46-year-old home health-care worker, has still not reported her assault to the police, and she has no plans to. President Bush's Sept. 15th address to the nation. And we said, "Plan your route carefully. Hurricane Katrina Superdome. 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. ", Gov. With camera lenses and lights abounding, the . Here's a [powerful] hurricane. We do our video conference calls before and during disasters. 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. I think the American Red Cross already had shelters and was already feeding people. "I know more sexual assaults took place. More than 1 million more in the Gulf region were displaced. People begin arriving at the Ernest M. Morial Convention Center seeking shelter, food, and water. Already, these preliminary cases show a high number of gang rapes and rapes by strangers, both unusual characteristics. Watch it: To learn about questionable police shootings and cover-ups in Katrinas wake. Recalling her attack, she sobs, "They just left us to die. Michael Brown, FEMA director: 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 Convention Center becomes a destination for walk-in refugees seeking evacuation. "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. 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. I immediately hung up the phone, called my city attorney because they had always advised that you can't do a mandatory evacuation. On Sept. 1, with desperate Hurricane Katrina evacuees crammed into the convention center, Police Chief Eddie Compass reported: "We . That is why the first place we picked to do an exercise and planning was New Orleans. In one notorious incident known as the Danziger Bridge case, police opened fire on a group of civilians, who were later found to be unarmed and searching for food and medicine. As the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, explore three different FRONTLINE documentaries about the disaster, its lingering aftermath and the lessons learned. Rescuers drop them off wherever there is high ground; many are dropped at interstate overpasses and the Superdome. Crime is at an all-time high. "We're not downsizing anything," Benelli says. Evacuating hospitals is a top priority: Patients and staff are stranded and supplies and power are dwindling. 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." That she could turn this 15 minutes of footage into an Oscar-nominated documentaryIm amazed by it. Issues of race, class, government response and . (48) 7.4 1 h 13 min 2010 13+. 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 there seems to be this dance about who has ultimate authority. At a press conference in Baton Rouge, 80 miles away, Gov. "Katrina will regenerate on Friday over Gulf of Mexico, head west-northwest then turn northward. By. Reports put the population there in the tens of thousands. Walter Maestri, Jefferson Parish emergency manager: Anastasia says thugs were still wandering the streets of her neighborhood more than a week after the flood. 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. 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. An estimated 25,000 angry and exhausted people are still at the Convention Center; buses begin arriving to evacuate them. One woman told me she was going to commit suicide after Katrina, and that she saw Spike Lees documentary, and I saved her life. 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. More than 1,800 people died in what was the costliest . 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 is a belief that the city has avoided a direct hit. 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. It is 45 miles northwest of Florida Keys. I aint about to leave, Gettridge said. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies . Then we kind of figure out ways that we could coordinate. The numbers are not dramatic, but they are significant when seen in light of the official number of post-Katrina rapes and attempted rapes: four. I said, 'We need to do this.' Interstate 10 is shut down with damage to 40 percent of its Twin Span Bridge over Lake Ponchartrain. To get medical teams and search teams out the door and get 'em down there. 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. "Coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations as they rushed to get out A direct hit could wind up submerging New Orleans in several feet of water At least 100,000 people in the city lack transportation to get out Louisiana and Mississippi make all lanes northbound on interstate highways". Law-enforcement authorities dismissed early reports of widespread rapes in New Orleans during the lawless days following Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. "Some bad things happened, you know. Some parts of the city already showed slipping floodwaters as the repair neared completion, with the low-lying Ninth Ward dropping more than a foot. "I went into New Orleans and stood beside Mayor Nagin and emphasized the need to leave. In the six weeks since the Web site has been up, with almost no publicity, it has received 42 reports of sexual assaults. August 27, 2015, 2:18 PM. And he said: 'No, you don't have to leave. We have Brad Pitt and Chris Rocks wife here now, and I think collectively its making a huge, huge difference. And I said [to the president], "Here's my piece of paper. She sits on the edge of a bed in a dingy, dimly lit room in a motel in Baton Rouge. "I was told that they could mobilize immediately 2,500 National Guards members. 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 . 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. I had all the police, the firefighters in rescue mode, so the looting thing started to rear its head. 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. Later, his charred remains were discovered on the banks of the Mississippi River, inside a car that had apparently been set on fire. The Times-Picayune reports that 4,600 active duty troops under the command of Gen. Russel Honor arrive in New Orleans. More women are coming forward with stories of sexual assault in the lawless days after the storm. He also announces that the Superdome will be "a shelter of last resort for evacuees with special needs." FEMA was doing what it's supposed to be doing. Here in New Orleans East, we desperately need a hospital. Half of telephone service is back. Met in the little office at the Super Dome where the heliport is. "They didn't have no food. The outer ends of the hurricane also produced tornados . 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. Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News/epa/Corbis Do You Have News to Share? ' Gettridge told FRONTLINE. The skies darkened, and the wind started to pick up. Why haven't the bosses decided to move the people out?' 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 . " Troops poured in to restore order after almost a week of near-anarchy. And, in 2004, FEMA sponsored a disaster planning exercise in which the scenario was a major hurricane striking New Orleans. When Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans poet Shelton Alexander to evacuate his home, he took his truck and video camera to the Superdome. By Chris Edwards. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, causing catastrophic flooding as numerous levees failed around New Orleans. I think we both should have asked sooner.". President Bush flies over the area on his way back to Washington. I n the HBO documentary Katrina Babies, young teen Meisha Williams recollects her experience surviving the 2005 hurricane that displaced approximately 200,000 New Orleans residents. I don't know why. As of Nov. 22, 2005, more than 900 people are known to have died in New Orleans. We can only deal with what we know.". Watch it: For a powerful story of resilience and determination in the face of tragedy. Note: In the last hours before Katrina made landfall, dozens of copies of the Hurricane Pam report are distributed to emergency planners. Here's the things I think we need to focus on. 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. She describes . About 2,000 medical evacuees remain at Louis Armstrong Airport, which has become a staging area for responders and injured refugees. The top-notch special effects are alarmingly realistic and frightening, particularly when the 17th St. Canal levee breaches and when Katrina rips the roof from the Superdome, where in the days . Explore FRONTLINEs collected and ongoing reporting on Russia's war on Ukraine. And I said, "We're doing one in the morning.". 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. Around this time 17 years ago, Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, and permanently changed life for thousands of people across the country. (Weather forecasters classify hurricane strength on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the strongest.) And he said: 'Mr. If we arent talking about what we still need, how can we be sure people wont forget?. Thousands of troops poured into the city September. 11.1.2005. Heres What the Claims Say and Where They Stand. so you had a very dynamic situation.". A New Orleans house submerged in floodwaters. - Severe flooding damage to cities along the Gulf Coast, from New Orleans to . Lewis and others had taken refuge in the Redemption Elderly Apartments, in the Irish Channel section of New Orleans. On Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made its historic landfall on the Gulf Coast, hitting a number of cities along the Louisiana-Mississippi border, with the eye . Most residents have evacuated the city and those left behind do not have transportation or have special needs. The expected storm surge is 15 to 20 feet, locally as high as 25 feet. In Louisiana, New Orleans is of particular concern because much of that city lies below sea level. Katrina anniversary: Inside the Superdome during Katrina. She insists other women were raped in the same apartment building over the next four nights, but her claim could not be checked out. And the guard unitspent most of the next 24 hours saving itself. 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 . That's where Katrina Babies comes in. Now, other than media reports, I don't know what's happening at the other end. August 29, 2005. Ten years ago this Saturday, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast. I gave the governor two options. Four were wounded, and 17-year-old James Brisette and 40-year-old Ronald Madison were killed. In what looked like a scene from a Third World country, some people threw their arms heavenward and others nearly fainted with joy as the trucks and hundreds of soldiers arrived in the punishing midday heat. Mayor, we had a good meeting. The police department -- reeling from desertions, flooding and the immensity of the disaster -- was in a survival mode itself. There are still areas that look like Katrina hit yesterday. 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. The 42 reports include assaults that happened inside New Orleans and outside the city, for instance, in host homes. Gov. Nobody cared.". Gov. On that first night after the storm, the city had lost power, and she was sleeping in a dark hallway, trying to catch a breeze. FEMA Situation Update: [2] Approximately 10,000 residents, along with about 150 National Guardsmen, sheltered in the Superdome anticipating Katrina's landfall. Go up there, face to face and say, "What is happening here? And I had a piece of paper where I wrote down like a five-point plan of the things that we needed to do. Looting breaks out in parts of the city. Ten years ago this Saturday, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast. Virtually all communication systems are out. A hurricane warning is issued for north central Gulf . HBO. 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 With all due respect, Mr. President, if you and the governor don't get on the same page, this event is going to continue to spiral down, and it's going to be a black eye on everybody -- federal, state and local.' Five officers were ultimately indicted: one for the shooting, and four additional officers on charges related to burning Glovers body and obstructing a federal investigation. The Times-Picayune reports that an estimated 112,000 people do not own cars. Judy Benitez is executive director of the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault, a statewide coalition of rape crisis centers. web site copyright 1995-2014 I don't think that's the proper thing to do. 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. And Mayor Nagin expressed his concerns. In New Orleans last year, there was a rape every other day on average. 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, Yahoo, are part of the Yahoo family of brands. Gov. I am still going out into the streets every day to talk to people about their experiencesI call it getting phyllisophical. ", Mayor Ray Nagin: The Army Corps of Engineers attempts to plug breaches in the 17th Street Canal and Industrial Canal levees. 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. 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. Several thousand National Guard troops start reaching the thousands of evacuees at the Convention Center and elsewhere. Several parishes and the city of New Orleans announce emergency responders will stop venturing out once the wind exceeds 45 mph. 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. Visit us at HISTORY.com for more info. The Louisiana National Guard's Jackson Barracks flood. The Most Risky Job Ever. Reporting on ISIS in Afghanistan. Thousands more were unable to evacuate, including the nearly 25,000 who sheltered in the Superdome. More women are coming forward with stories of sexual . The Department of Defense's "Joint Task Force Katrina" -- 4,600 active-duty military headed by Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honor -- sets up at Camp Shelby, Miss. 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. "I think that that was probably over-reported," he says. home+introduction+watch online+interviews+analysis+14 days There was nobody there to protect you," Lewis says. 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 . Under the best of circumstances, rape is one of the hardest crimes to solve. ISIS' growing foothold in Afghanistan is captured on film. FEMA Situation Update: Kathleen Blanco: A suicide did occur inside the Superdome, . "To cries of 'Thank you, Jesus!' And they hadn't. When Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans poet Shelton Alexander to evacuate his home, he took his truck and video camera to the Superdome. Oh, absolutely not. Other people call me the Dr. Phil of the streets.. Left to right: Mayor Ray Nagin, President Bush, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, FEMA Director Michael Brown, Gov. They lost power. 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. The situation begins to improve. ', We immediately did turn to the military and mission-assigned them to start doing airlifts, start bringing things in. "[Michael] Brown I did not see the first couple of days. 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. 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. He came right back and he said, I dont know why, but theres probably a foot of water on Claiborne Street, Landreneau said. 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. I laid that out for him. Victims of Hurricane Katrina fight through the crowd as they line up for buses to evacuate the Superdome and New Orleans, Sept. 1, 2005. I said, 'All of us are going to leave right now, and they're going to work this out right now. ", Leo Bosner, FEMA watch officer: Instead, officers at the compound arrested Glover. President Bush declares Louisiana and Mississippi major disaster areas. ", President Bush arrives in Louisiana. In all honesty, we begin looting. Blanco announces New Orleans must be evacuated because of the still- rising water and uninhabitable conditions. "I admit that rapes are underreported," Benelli says. "I got a call, I think Saturday afternoon [from] Max Mayfield, the hurricane director. 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. We began search-and-rescue missions using local state resources, waiting for the federal cavalry to arrive and believing that it would be here in 48 to 60 hours. Where is water? A timeline of the warnings, some of the decisions leading up to the disaster, and what went wrong with the government's response. 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 . HBO. The interviews done as part of this project reflect the disaster's painful, chaotic, and murky aftermath. 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. Surviving the Superdome. Lipin says when he arrived in Baton Rouge and turned on the TV, he was surprised by reports of rampant violence in New Orleans. Lewis says she was raped on Monday, Aug. 29, the day of the storm. And it is injurious to the president. We've all feared a catastrophic hurricane striking New Orleans. / 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. It took me too long and I worked too hard to build what I had here.. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warning: 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. 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 . He didn't care where the help came from, he just wanted it to be there. Winds continue to damage or destroy buildings and blow out windows. Henry Glover was last seen alive in the backseat of a white Chevy Malibu on Sept. 2, 2005, days after Katrina hit. 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. 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. As Katrina hit, Alexander found himself in a desperate situation. I spoke to an airman [over the phone] he told me that it had rained very little and there was justexcept for just a few puddles of water in the parking lot, there just was no water, the guards commander, Maj. Gen. Bennett Landreneau, who was monitoring the situation from Baton Rouge, recalled in an interview with FRONTLINE.