WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS {PART 4 OF 4} (TV)
Summary
The fourth installment in this four-part documentary series focuses on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and surrounding areas in August 2005. The final act begins as a brass band plays traditional jazz music as they hold a “funeral” for Katrina. Residents comment on their shock at returning to their neighborhoods and finding nothing but rubble, with longtime landmarks now gone. Despite this, in February, the annual Mardi Gras celebration is held, although 2006’s celebration is marked by pointed signs, shirts and commentary about the hurricane and FEMA’s disappointing response. The United States Army Corps of Engineers arrives in New Orleans four months after the storm and begins a very slow clean-up process, in which many bodies are discovered. They develop a system of markings to place on houses to denote that they have been examined, although in many cases these are inaccurate and families find their relatives’ bodies in homes that are marked as clear. One man describes returning to his home and finding the doors locked, meaning that it could not have been searched despite the markings, and finally finding his mother’s drowned corpse. Many died from a lack of oxygen or from heatstroke, and others drowned even in the attics of their homes, and once the bodies are found, it takes several further months for identification and processing before they are released to their families; it was not until December that DNA testing became available, due to a lack of funding.
An investigation begins into the collapse of the levees, which were built by the Corps of Engineers; it is explained that the walls, referred to as “sheet pile,” were simply not built deeply enough into the ground and therefore tipped over when the water pressure became too high and strong. A 6,000-page report is released by the Corps acknowledging their “catastrophic” failure, and though many feel that someone should land in jail for the crimes, it is explained that the Corps cannot be sued because of a legal technicality, despite their foreknowledge of the levees’ inadequacy. Further environmental details that contributed to the levees’ break are explored, including the dangerous erosion of the wetlands around New Orleans and the impact of global warming. It is then revealed that the 2006 hurricane season is likely to be “worse than usual,” and that ten to twenty years of extreme weather is expected, including along the northeast coast of the country. Louisiana is a resource and a “colony” of oil and natural gas, but the federal government receives all of the money made from these products, and several residents express frustration that the state does not have access to its own riches, which could be used to improve the wetlands, and Governor Blanco files a lawsuit against the government for these funds. At the same time, the trailer homes promised by FEMA are very slow to arrive and storm survivors are forced through endless red tape and phone calls, required to prove that they owned their own homes before they are provided with lodging. Once the trailers arrive, they are shoddily made and many have no electricity. Wynton Marsalis comments that the frustrating aftermath of the storm is a “signature moment” in which American society needs to learn from its mistakes.
The insurance companies provide further headaches when they begin to split hairs between “hurricane damage” and “flood damage,” refusing many people’s claims, which make a grand total of $75 billion. Actor Wendell Pierce discusses on his veteran father’s long struggle to buy a home of his own and his subsequent experience in receiving inadequately small checks from the insurance company after the home was destroyed. Another woman describes how her entire house floated across the street during the floods. Residents discuss their plans to hold onto their property despite offers from Donald Trump-like “land-grabbers” who are attempting to “buy them out” and gentrify the community, and they express their disapproval of the Corps’ plans to restore the levees to “pre-Katrina conditions,” doubting that there will be any improvement. One interviewee explains his theory that President Bush sees the New Orleans residents as “not much of a threat” to his Presidency and therefore is not working hard to rebuild the city. Comparisons are drawn to the Netherlands’ superior levee system, and several New Orleans survivors comment on their fear of another hurricane, from which they do not believe they will be protected. The program concludes as the interviewees, nearly all New Orleans natives, introduce themselves and their neighborhoods, in which they still live as they attempt to reconstruct their lives. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: August 22, 2006 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:10:37
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:90775
- GENRE: Documentary
- SUBJECT HEADING: Documentary; Natural disasters; New Orleans, Louisiana; African-American Collection - News/Talk
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 2006
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Sheila Nevins … Executive Producer
- Jacqueline Glover … Supervising Producer
- Sam Pollard … Producer
- Spike Lee … Producer, Director
- Tyra Hanshaw … Graphics Producer
- Butch Robinson … Line Producer
- Terence Blanchard … Music by
- Kathleen Blanco
- George W. Bush
- Wynton Marsalis
- Wendell Pierce
- Donald Trump