TV Is Marking Hurricane Katrina’s 20th Anniversary — 8 Documentaries to Watch (VIDEO)

This week brings a somber anniversary for the Gulf Coast: It was on August 29, 2005, that Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 3 storm. The storm wasn’t the strongest hurricane to hit the United States, but it was the deadliest since 1928, and it still ranks as the costliest ever, with damage amounting to $201 billion in adjusted costs, per a NOAA report. New Orleans was hit especially hard, as Katrina’s storm surge broke through levees and flooded the city. And for as many tales of heroism and altruism as there are from the ensuing days, there are critiques of the government response.

Two decades on, documentaries across the TV dial are revisiting that disaster, and the recovery efforts that are still ongoing. Here are details on several of those programs:

Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time

This five-part National Geographic documentary, helmed by Oscar-nominated director Traci A. Curry and produced by Ryan Coogler, “offers an unprecedented, heart-pounding look at the disaster directly from those who lived through it” and “combines cinematic storytelling with the clear-eyed perspective of two decades of hindsight,” Nat Geo says. Expect insights both macro and micro, as the series zooms out to examine systemic failures and zooms in to share personal tales of heroism.

Now Streaming, Disney+ & Hulu

Above the Tide – 20 Years After Katrina

An installment of ESPN’s award-winning E60 storytelling brand, Above the Tide features Ryan Clark— a Louisiana native, Super Bowl champion, and ESPN NFL analyst — as he returns to New Orleans to connect with local musicians, cultural figures, and longtime residents, who lived through Katrina. Interviewees include NFL veteran Leonard Fournette, who lived through Katrina as a 10-year-old, and New Orleans Saints players who played the first post-Katrina game in New Orleans’ Superdome.

Now Streaming, ESPN+

Hope in High Water: A People’s Recovery Twenty Years After Hurricane Katrina

In this doc, journalist Trymaine Lee, who won a 2006 Pulitzer Prize as part of the Times-Picayune team covering Hurricane Katrina, tracks not just the post-Katrina rebuilding efforts but the structural conditions that exacerbated the tragedy. “This is a story I’ve been living and telling for 20 years,” Lee says in press materials. “From reporting on the devastation on the ground and in real time to returning with a new lens, I hope this documentary reminds people that while the waters may have receded, the fight for equity and belonging continues.”

Now Streaming, Peacock

Katrina 20

The Weather Channel presents this “comprehensive and poignant reflection on one of the most devastating hurricanes in U.S. history” with Senior National Correspondent Justin Michaels as host. Like other Hurricane Katrina docs, Katrina 20 will cover the catastrophe and its long-term impacts, but The Weather Channel will also use its award-winning Immersive Mixed Reality technology to show how a similar hurricane would affect the Gulf Coast today after 20 years of advancements.

Now Streaming, The Weather Channel TV App

New Orleans: Soul of a City

Having premiered with the preview episode “Rebirth of the Superdome” on Sunday, August 24, CNN’s New Orleans: Soul of a City marks both the 20th anniversary of Katrina and the 50th anniversary of “the stadium that came to symbolize both refuge and renewal.” Former Saints players Malcolm Jenkins, Deuce McAllister, and Devery Henderson join former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu and former Superdome general manager Doug Thornton to tell the story of the city’s resilience. (The full four-part series premieres on CNN Sunday, October 5, at 10/9c.)

Preview Episode, Now Streaming, CNN.com

 

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Hurricane HQ: Katrina’s Wrath 20 Years Later

On the free ad-supported streaming television service Fox Weather, this four-episode documentary presents interviews with city officials, meteorologists, and survivors. And Fox News Media is relying on in-house talent: its hurricane specialist Bryan Norcross, correspondent Robert Ray, and senior meteorologist Janice Dean, all of whom have their own recollections of the storm.

Monday, August 25, 8:30/7:30c, Fox Weather

Katrina: Come Hell and High Water

Spike Lee, who directed the 2006 doc When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, executive-produces this three-part series with harrowing accounts from the people of New Orleans and a reminder that the ravages of the storm continue. “Twenty years later, at this moment in our history, this series feels even more urgent and relevant,” producer Alisa Payne says in press notes. “It will not only inform those who know little about Katrina and the aftermath for New Orleans, but will provide new revelations to those who think they know this story and this country.”

Wednesday, August 27, Netflix

Hurricane Katrina: 20 Years After the Storm With Robin Roberts

Hurricane Katrina hit home for Robin Roberts, and in this special, the Good Morning America\ anchor reports on the rebuilding efforts in the area. “I went to my hometown of Pass Christian, reporting on all that damage and heartache throughout the Gulf Coast region,” she explained on GMA. “What we also touch upon is that we can be a road map for those that are going through the flooding, the fires, everybody’s got something … and to try and pass that along.”

Friday, August 29, 8/7c, ABC, Streaming Next Day on Disney+ & Hulu