Twenty years on from Hurricane Katrina, a number of documentaries have re-examined the failings that led to catastrophic flooding in the horrific incident that killed 1,392 people.
The devastating tropical cyclone hit the US in 2005, particularly affecting New Orleans and the surrounding areas.
A new documentary on Netflix from Spike Lee, Katrina: Come Hell or High Water, is a sobering look at the incident, focusing particularly on the racism that followed in the narratives spun by media covering Katrina.
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The cyclone led to widespread flooding, with 80 per cent of New Orleans estimated to have been flooded as a result.
Of the over 1,000 deaths that occurred due to Katrina, some of the deadliest incidents involved a major failure that was confirmed by several investigations done after the fact.
These were not failures in the response to the incident itself, but instead engineering failures that led to major loss-of-life incidents.
A majority of these involved levees, a type of embankment built to prevent the overflow of a river. During Hurricane Katrina, the levee system throughout New Orleans failed, resulting in catastrophic flooding.
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The levee system in New Orleans had been set up by the US Army Engineering Corps, who were later found responsible for the failures.
Following reports on the levee's inconsistent design and quality, in 2006, the Corps said that they were committed to fixing the flood defences, with Corps head Lt-Gen Carl Strock saying they had to admit to 'a catastrophic failure' and that he was 'enormously troubled by the suffering of so many' (via the BBC).
Costing $738,000,000, the system’s failure was described by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2007 as 'the worst engineering catastrophe in U.S. history'.
Two-thirds of all deaths caused by Hurricane Katrina in Greater New Orleans were due to both the levee failures and the flood wall failures.
This is covered in the Netflix documentary, with one viewer tweeting: “Watching the Katrina: Come Hell and High Water documentary — till this day, I can’t still wrap my head around that these government officials left these people to die after the levee breach.”
Many online viewers have spoken about how the documentary is an unsettling yet vital watch.
One took to Reddit, saying: “I honestly felt devastated for the people of New Orleans. Think this doc really showed the before, during and after of the disaster.
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“I can’t imagine being a person having to wade through dirty flood waters - let alone having just given birth.”
Another said: “Just finished it. Heartbreaking, and it just makes me sick that the poor were so clearly discriminated against.
“I found myself in tears imagining myself in that same scenario.”
One viewer took to X after watching, saying: “On the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina everyone should watch Katrina: Hell or High Water on Netflix, really shows what a racist, sh*t country USA really is…”
Katrina: Hell or High Water is available to watch on Netflix now.
Michael Slavin