Here in New Orleans East, we desperately need a hospital. I think the American Red Cross already had shelters and was already feeding people. I don't think that's the proper thing to do. And you need to order mandatory evacuation. 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. 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. 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. [Governor Blanco] probably should have asked sooner. Buckles, who wrote and directed the documentary . Katrina first made landfall in South Florida. After her rape, Lewis says, there were no clinics open, so she washed herself with bleach. 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. And they both shook their heads and said, 'Yes, you're right.' Already, these preliminary cases show a high number of gang rapes and rapes by strangers, both unusual characteristics. On June 4, 2006, Pamela Mahogany was interviewed for her personal experience involving the events following Hurricane Katrina. Lewis says she was raped on Monday, Aug. 29, the day of the storm. 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. The Times-Picayune reports that Jefferson Parish residents are allowed to return to the area to inspect the damage to their homes.The breach in the 17th Street Canal is finally repaired, and engineers continue to work on other levee breaks. Rescuers drop them off wherever there is high ground; many are dropped at interstate overpasses and the Superdome. And, in 2004, FEMA sponsored a disaster planning exercise in which the scenario was a major hurricane striking New Orleans. He didn't even know what efforts had been made on his behalf because he had no lines of communications open to him. 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. Find out in the 2015 documentary Outbreak, newly available to stream on FRONTLINEs YouTube channel. Thousands more were unable to evacuate, including the nearly 25,000 who sheltered in the Superdome. "I didn't see any police officers -- I could have gotten away with murder," she says. And he had flown in a helicopter. By the end of the day, it is upgraded to Tropical Storm Katrina, with 50 mph maximum sustained winds. "[I] got to the president. Your email address will not be published. Hurricane Katrina, tropical cyclone that struck the southeastern United States in late August 2005. In his speech, he calls on all federal, state and local agencies to review their performance. 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. Some parishes order mandatory evacuations. Looting becomes more widespread; hotels begin turning out guests. A Tropical Depression with 35 mph maximum sustained winds is located 250 miles east-southeast of southeast Florida. 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." And it is injurious to the president. And nothing happened. The storm flooded New Orleans, killed more than 1,800 people, and caused . Tonight, the Oscar-nominated Trouble the Watera documentary by filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, premieres on HBO. HBO. Lt. Dave Benelli, commander of the sex crimes unit with the New Orleans Police Department, denies that. More than 1 million more in the Gulf region were displaced. Thats why films like Trouble the Water are so important, and why its great that its making it to a wide audience via HBO. And he said definitively, "Mr. Mayor, the storm is headed right for you. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip). At least one half of well constructed homes will have roof and wall failure. Producer Martin Smith: Were they going back and forth with each other? 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. 11.1.2005. 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 . background photo copyright 2005 corbis Get as many people out as possible. Ten years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast and generated a huge disaster. Kathleen Blanco. And why it wasnt stopped sooner. 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. And Michael Brown was there listening. Evacuating hospitals is a top priority: Patients and staff are stranded and supplies and power are dwindling. [He] came on site, I think it was Monday after the event. At 10 a.m., the Thorntons headed together to the Superdome. Stranded victims of Hurricane Katrina rest inside the Superdome September 2, 2005 in 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. The only person I saw from FEMA was basically this guy named Marty [Bahamonde]. web site copyright 1995-2014 And it was a very good meeting, I thought. By the end of the day, the projected storm surge is 18 to 22 feet, locally as high as 28 feet. It has been nearly six years since Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf of Mexico cutting a swathe of devastation and shock through the psyche of the American people. To get food out. Katrina makes landfall near Grand Isle, Louisiana as a Category 3 storm with winds near 127 mph. Visit us at HISTORY.com for more info. We have got to start getting people out.' "We'd heard the story of a man killing himself, falling . Where is water? And based upon that ["Hurricane Pam" planning exercise], I knew they needed to evacuate. "I admit that rapes are underreported," Benelli says. "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". "Media reports attribute Katrina with four fatalities [in Florida], more than a million customers were without electricity". Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation. In the 2005 documentary "In His Own Words: Brian Williams on Hurricane Katrina," Williams indicated that he wasn't a witness to the suicide. He says his team only saw a fraction of the desperate people who sought assistance. And there seems to be this dance about who has ultimate authority. 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. Experts say it was the perfect environment to commit a crime, and the worst environment to report a crime. In a documentary aired in October 2005 on the Sundance Channel, "In His Own Words: Brian Williams on Hurricane Katrina," Williams said, . 1. 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. Walter Maestri, Jefferson Parish emergency manager: Find out more about how we use your personal data in our privacy policy and cookie policy. 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. We knew we were gonna have to shelter people. "I remember reading [that New Orleans had dodged a bullet]. Judy Benitez, of the Louisiana rape crisis group, says the non-report rate would be far higher given the nightmare of Katrina. The hurricane and its aftermath claimed more than 1,800 lives, and it ranked as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. 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. Looting breaks out in parts of the city. Military and Coast Guard helicopters flew a steady stream of evacuees from hospitals and rooftops to the airport southwest of downtown. 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. 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. The Army Corps of Engineers renews work to fix the breach in the 17th St. Canal. Buckles' intimate connection to the people he interviews many of them family members, friends, and former . ', We immediately did turn to the military and mission-assigned them to start doing airlifts, start bringing things in. A New Orleans house submerged in floodwaters. Driving in from the popular suburb of Metairie, it's the first building you pass. I am still going out into the streets every day to talk to people about their experiencesI call it getting phyllisophical. 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. Inside the four triage tents, medical personnel tended to people who had gone for days without their medication. Blanco is there. ', And we left and had a press conference. "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. And he basically asked me, 'Mr. Bring enough to sustain yourself, your family, your children. The outer ends of the hurricane also produced tornados . A decade later . Ten years ago this Saturday, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast. 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." In the six weeks since the Web site has been up, with almost no publicity, it has received 42 reports of sexual assaults. About 2,000 medical evacuees remain at Louis Armstrong Airport, which has become a staging area for responders and injured refugees. HBO. The Convention Center becomes a destination for walk-in refugees seeking evacuation. The line to get in was already a quarter-mile long. I probably should have asked sooner. The storm has ripped a hole in the Superdome where the power has gone out. She insists other women were raped in the same apartment building over the next four nights, but her claim could not be checked out. In the first few hours after Katrina hit, many people believed that New Orleans had dodged a bullet. Buses have started evacuating people at the Superdome, but at the Convention Center thousands are still waiting and conditions continue to deteriorate there. Benelli says his team investigated two attempted rapes inside the Superdome, and two additional reports of rapes that happened in the city, one of which was the 25-year-old hairdresser. I said, 'If you guys don't get together and work this out, this is going to get worse.' "They didn't have no food. New Orleans resident climbing through roof of house. Blanco announces New Orleans must be evacuated because of the still- rising water and uninhabitable conditions. Mayor Nagin estimates 50,000 to 100,000 people remain in the city. By the evening of August 25, when it made . Under the best of circumstances, rape is one of the hardest crimes to solve. 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. Expressed my concerns, my frustration He needed to really get us resources to save people. Hurricane Katrina made landfall off the coast of Louisiana on August 29, 2005. "All I could do was pray, pray for rescue, pray that I didn't have any type of transmitted disease," she says. Around this time 17 years ago, Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, and permanently changed life for thousands of people across the country. At daybreak, rescuers set out on boats to help others still stranded. As Katrina hit, Alexander found himself in a desperate situation. Kathleen Blanco, governor of Louisiana: 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 . Reports stream in from people needing rescue. He co-wrote the novel,"The Spencer Haywood Rule," and he was co-producer of the "Katrina Cop in the Superdome," a 2010 documentary about the experiences of a black New Orleans police officer and other citizens as they sheltered in the Louisiana Superdome during the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005. On August 28, 2005, at 6 am, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin announced that the Superdome would be used as a public shelter. Gettridge,a fifth generation New Orleanian, would go on to die from a heart attack in 2014 at the age of 91 at the home he had successfully rebuilt. 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 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.