hurricane katrina: superdome documentary

', So they went into another section of the plane, had a meeting. He came right back and he said, I dont know why, but theres probably a foot of water on Claiborne Street, Landreneau said. And they hadn't. So I can assume what the criminals were thinking, and that's exactly what happened.". And the impression given in those four days is basically indelible. 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. 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. I gave people clues on how to pack. They didn't have communication. Female victims, now displaced from New Orleans, are slowly coming forward with a different story than the official one. It hit land as a Category 3 storm with winds reaching speeds as high as 120 miles per hour. Stranded victims of Hurricane Katrina rest inside the Superdome September 2, 2005 in New Orleans. In Louisiana, New Orleans is of particular concern because much of that city lies below sea level. I laid that out for him. And he said: 'Mr. The account of her rape was verified by a trained forensic nurse at Earl K. Long Hospital in Baton Rouge, where Lewis sought treatment. In the first few hours after Katrina hit, many people believed that New Orleans had dodged a bullet. "I'm telling you the number of reported rapes we had.". 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. Rescuers drop them off wherever there is high ground; many are dropped at interstate overpasses and the Superdome. August 29, 2005. So I finally just walked up to Danny and said, Mr. Kathleen Blanco, governor of Louisiana: At landfall, Katrina's maximum winds were about 125 miles per hour (mph) to the east of its center. 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. 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. And you need to order mandatory evacuation. "Katrina will regenerate on Friday over Gulf of Mexico, head west-northwest then turn northward. The Katrina images we see in the film -- people on rooftops, the Superdome being shredded by hurricane winds, dogs stranded in attics -- are ones that once would have been guaranteed to put lumps . " 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. Their back-up generators flooded. 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. Find out in the 2015 documentary Outbreak, newly available to stream on FRONTLINEs YouTube channel. 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. The Times-Picayune reports that the breaches in the 17th Street and Florida Avenue Canals have been repaired and power is restored to the Warehouse and Central Business Districts. Persons, pets, and livestock exposed to the winds will face certain death if struck. You'll receive access to exclusive information and early alerts about our documentaries and investigations. "We're not downsizing anything," Benelli says. To get food out. Mississippi and Louisiana governors declare states of emergency. No, they weren't. The Army Corps of Engineers projects it could take 80 days to pump the water out of the city. The Times-Picayune reports the Convention Center evacuees are still being loaded onto buses and evacuated and search-and-rescue operations continue. President Bush arrives in New Orleans and holds a meeting on Air Force One with federal and local officials. 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 price tag has not yet been determined. But we were working frantically to get it out. The expected storm surge is 15 to 20 feet, locally as high as 25 feet. 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. Explore FRONTLINEs collected and ongoing reporting on Russia's war on Ukraine. People begin arriving at the Ernest M. Morial Convention Center seeking shelter, food, and water. And the president comes, and we have this meeting. 7:577-Minute Listen. 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.". And he said: 'No, you don't have to leave. Photo. "[Michael] Brown I did not see the first couple of days. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip). "With the evacuee situation stabilizing somewhat, and increasing numbers of armed soldiers and police on the streets, officials said Saturday they would start aggressively dealing with the bands of armed looters who pushed the city to the brink of complete breakdown. Its efforts fail. I think we both should have asked sooner.". It was there, she says, that an unknown man with a handgun sexually assaulted her. Conditions are deteriorating with bathrooms overflowing, no power for air conditioning and little food and water. Here's all these thousands of people that don't have any way to get out of the city. People can say that writing a check doesnt mean anything, but honey, it does. Now, other than media reports, I don't know what's happening at the other end. A shaft of light falls throught an opening in the fully evacuated Superdome on Sept. 5, 2005 in New Orleans, La. HBO. Gov. 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 . But problems persist. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. That's the attitude I would take if I was operating in the dark too. Hurricane Katrina, tropical cyclone that struck the southeastern United States in late August 2005. Team members said they delivered babies, treated gunshot and stab victims, and ultimately fled for their own safety. web site copyright 1995-2014 I immediately hung up the phone, called my city attorney because they had always advised that you can't do a mandatory evacuation. "I at least wanted a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans and the surrounding parishes [on Saturday]. President Bush declares Louisiana and Mississippi major disaster areas. "A close eye will be kept this system could strengthen ". Over 1,800 people lost their lives in the hurricane and an estimated 1 million people were displaced from their homes. Hurricane Katrina first made landfall on Aug. 25, 2005, in Florida, weakening to a tropical storm as it briefly passed over land. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, Congress appropriated an unprecedented $126.4 billion for relief, recovery and rebuilding efforts. They were finally able to leave the city on Saturday. President Bush flies over the area on his way back to Washington. Producer Martin Smith: So we're just eating sandwiches and making nice while people are stranded on rooftops? Phyllis Montana-Leblanc is a Hurricane Katrina survivor. It doesn't make any sense.". We had pre-positioned supplies, medical teams, Meals Ready To Eat, and food in the Superdome. At a press conference in Baton Rouge, 80 miles away, Gov. ", Mayor Ray Nagin: Civil order had completely broken down. Walter Maestri, Jefferson Parish emergency manager: The Louisiana National Guard's Jackson Barracks flood. I gave the governor two options. ". New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies . I said, 'We need to do this.' August 28, 2005. "Some bad things happened, you know. 11:09. Blanco and said, 'We've got to move National Guard troops in there. Michael Brown, FEMA director: ". "At that stage, we had mission-assigned the Department of Defense to start giving us everything they could in terms of air-lift capability. 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. We'll put a couple of medical teams on standby. And then finally I just stopped and said: 'Excuse me, but time is of the essence. 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. The hurricane caused billions of dollars of damage to the city, and killed thousands. Lewis and others had taken refuge in the Redemption Elderly Apartments, in the Irish Channel section of New Orleans. 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. Kathleen Blanco: Exclusive: A Former MPD Lieutenant Reported Another Cop. She is at work on her next memoir, No More Wire Hangers, about domestic abuse in teenage relationships. "I didn't see any police officers -- I could have gotten away with murder," she says. Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation. Issues of race, class, government response and . And Michael Brown tells Louisiana officials, "What I've seen here today is a team that is very tight knit, working closely together, being very professional and making the right calls.". Katrina Babies is an assertion of presence, a proclamation that the devastating hurricane is not simply a past story, but a present one too. There was nobody there to protect you," Lewis says. 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. 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. Crime is at an all-time high. At 10 a.m., the Thorntons headed together to the Superdome. Because of the ensuing . (Weather forecasters classify hurricane strength on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the strongest.) 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. Refuge of last resort: Five days inside the Superdome for Hurricane Katrina. Find out more about how we use your personal data in our privacy policy and cookie policy. A hurricane warning is issued for north central Gulf . But we need something really big, like a hospital, that shows where the $25 billion in recovery money is going. [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.]. Two national crime-victims' groups have reported a spike in the number of reported rapes that happened to storm evacuees. ", Michael Brown, FEMA director: And I said [to the president], "Here's my piece of paper. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warning: You have responded to my calls." But by late morning, when FEMA director Michael Brown arrives in Baton Rouge, water is already coming over levees in the 9th Ward and there are reports of breaks in the Industrial Canal and 17th Street Canal levees. Here's a [powerful] hurricane. There are still areas that look like Katrina hit yesterday. Several parishes and the city of New Orleans announce emergency responders will stop venturing out once the wind exceeds 45 mph. They spend the next 24 hours trying to save themselves. "I know more sexual assaults took place. After her rape, Lewis says, there were no clinics open, so she washed herself with bleach. I don't know why. It was late August, and some of the staff of the NREMT and I were attending the combined NAEMT conference and EMS Expo in New . The film a raw and gripping investigation of the Katrina response, its tragic consequences and its political ramifications includes candid interviews with key Katrina decision-makers, including the first televised interview with former FEMA Director Michael Brown since his resignation two weeks after Katrina hit. 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. "[On Air Force One] we gave the president a briefing on everything that had gone on. "Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks perhaps longer. Most residents have evacuated the city and those left behind do not have transportation or have special needs. hurricane katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast, claiming 1,800 lives. At least 1,800 lives were lost in Hurricane Katrina, often considered one of the worst hurricanes in US history. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, as seen in the new documentary Katrina Babies. Experts say it was the perfect environment to commit a crime, and the worst environment to report a crime. ', We immediately did turn to the military and mission-assigned them to start doing airlifts, start bringing things in. But Mayor Nagin goes on radio and castigates state and federal officials for their inaction and demands they "fix the biggest god-damn crisis in the history of this country." More than 1 million more in the Gulf region were displaced. Bring enough to sustain yourself, your family, your children. FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. Buckles, who wrote and directed the documentary . We've all feared a catastrophic hurricane striking New Orleans. William E. Brown Jr. -. Under the best of circumstances, rape is one of the hardest crimes to solve. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Sept. 15, 2005, 7:50 AM PDT. 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. FEMA National Situation Update: Around 8 a.m. the storm's eye passes eastern New Orleans. I probably should have asked sooner. 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. About 16,000 people . 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. "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. 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. We have Brad Pitt and Chris Rocks wife here now, and I think collectively its making a huge, huge difference. 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. Thats just one of the chain of catastrophes at the local, state and national level brought to vivid life in FRONTLINEs Emmy Award-winning 2005 documentaryThe Storm. Judy Benitez, of the Louisiana rape crisis group, says the non-report rate would be far higher given the nightmare of Katrina. 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. In an effort to get victims to come forward, the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault asked Charmaine Neville, a popular New Orleans jazz singer, to tape a public service announcement for national airplay. Widespread looting continues. At 7 am Katrina is a Category 5 with 160 mph maximum sustained winds. ", President Bush arrives in Louisiana. Watch it: To learn about questionable police shootings and cover-ups in Katrinas wake. Buckles' intimate connection to the people he interviews many of them family members, friends, and former . In downtown New Orleans, some streets were merely wet rather than swamped. Neville says she was sexually assaulted early the morning of Aug. 31st, while she was sleeping on the roof of Drew Elementary School in the Bywater Neighborhood, where she and others had taken refuge. A timeline of the warnings, some of the decisions leading up to the disaster, and what went wrong with the government's response. "[I] got to the president. ISIS is in Afghanistan, But Who Are They Really? Where is water? 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 . She made a report to a local sheriff's office; it has not yet passed the report on to the New Orleans police. 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 . There is a belief that the city has avoided a direct hit. The Times-Picayune reports that an estimated 112,000 people do not own cars. 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. I've never seen a hurricane like this in my 33-year career. She was featured in Spike Lee's documentary When the Levees Broke and is author of Not Just the Levees Broke: My Story During and After Hurricane Katrina. Watch it: For a powerful story of resilience and determination in the face of tragedy. Airborne debris will be widespread and may include heavy items such as household appliances and even light vehicles. ", Gov. 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. "To cries of 'Thank you, Jesus!' The city floods further. That is why the first place we picked to do an exercise and planning was 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 . Power outages will last for weeks water shortages will make human suffering incredible by modern standards.". 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. 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. Katrina becomes a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph maximum sustained winds. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty. The storm flooded New Orleans, killed more than 1,800 people, and caused . Where is food? I've heard some terrible stories since that the stuff wasn't getting there. They lost power. But for five days in the midst of the storm, about 20,000 of these . Just last week, a federal court ordered a new trial for five officers convicted of the Danziger Bridge shootings. 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. [Secretary of Homeland Security Michael] Chertoff is there. Ultimately, more than 300 soldiers would be trapped inside their own headquarters. Gov. 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. FEMA Situation Update: A decade later . / 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. He announces FEMA is moving supplies and equipment into the hardest hit areas. 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. The following year, during an interview with Tom Brokaw at Columbia Journalism School, Williams said, "We watched, all of us watched . "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. "I admit that rapes are underreported," Benelli says. And there seems to be this dance about who has ultimate authority. Around this time 17 years ago, Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, and . She sits on the edge of a bed in a dingy, dimly lit room in a motel in Baton Rouge. "All I could do was pray, pray for rescue, pray that I didn't have any type of transmitted disease," she says. By the end of the day, there are 30,000 people at the Superdome. Nicola Mann and Victoria Pass. 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. As the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, explore three different FRONTLINE documentaries about the disaster, its lingering aftermath and the lessons learned. Thousands more were unable to evacuate, including the nearly 25,000 who sheltered in the Superdome. 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 he was the first guy that told us about the amount of devastation and the levee breaches. Floodwaters keep rising. 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. She describes . We have got to start getting people out.' Rescue efforts are delayed because of the inability of rescuers to communicate with each other.

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