Inside Hurricane Katrina

---

1

Narrator:
It's a classic

military operation...

Attack the enemy

with overwhelming force.

Man:
We're in the eye wall.

Narrator:
Cut off his ability

to communicate.

Take the enemy's eyes out.

Take his ears out.

Then fix him

so he can't maneuver.

Man:
This whole place

is going under water.

Narrator:
But this

is no sneak attack.

The aggressor announces

her intentions.

Experts predict the date,

the time,

even the place

where she will strike.

And yet, somehow,

a natural disaster spirals

into an unnatural

human catastrophe.

Woman:
We're devastated.

Man:
We haven't eaten

in three days.

Narrator:
What turns Katrina.

Into one of the deadliest

hurricanes of modern times?

Man:
No water. No food.

Woman:
We don't have a home.

Man:
We lost everything.

Woman sobbing:
We want her back.

Narrator:

Why does it take so long.

To respond

to the cries for help?

Who makes the decisions,

and why?

Man:
People gotta do something,

we ain't got no more food.

We got babies out here.

We got handicapped people.

Woman:
On the floor,

she's dying right now.

Two people died already.

Where's FEMA? Where's the Mayor?

Woman:
Please, somebody.

Man:
We need some help out here.

Get us outta here!

We wanna get outta here!

Help! Help! Help!

I don't even know if my kids

are alive, man.

Narrator:
The facts behind

the storm shed new light...

As we go

Inside Hurricane Katrina.

Narrator:
Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

July 2004.

A war game is underway

at the state's

emergency operations center.

The scenario:

A deadly hurricane called Pam

ravages New Orleans

and the surrounding area.

Floodwaters surge

over the levees,

engulfing the city.

The death toll:
61,000.

The injured and sick: 380,000.

The homeless:
Half a million.

Half a million buildings

destroyed.

One million people evacuate

the hurricane zone.

In the war game, Pam cripples

local and state government.

So without even waiting

for an S.O.S.,

Washington takes charge

of the relief effort.

After a week

of these doomsday scenarios,

the disaster officials

have a preliminary plan.

So the locals knew what

their responsibilities were.

The state knew what

its responsibilities were.

The federal government knew

what its responsibilities were.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005.

11:
00 A.M. the central Bahamas.

Heavy rain and high winds

rattle the skies

and kick up mountainous waves

in the Atlantic Ocean.

Satellite photography reveals

a spinning formation

of thunderstorms,

with the signature

counterclockwise rotation

of a hurricane in the making.

Sustained wind speed

tops 38 miles an hour.

It is officially

a tropical storm...

For now.

On the alphabetized list

of names for storms

in the Atlantic Ocean in 2005,

the next one up is Katrina.

Miami.

The National Hurricane Center

issues an advisory:

Hurricane conditions

are possible in south Florida

within 36 hours.

Bentonville, Arkansas.

An emergency response team here

is already on the case.

Man:
Hurricanes

are one of the few disasters.

That give you lead time...

That you can really kind of

plan things ahead of time...

And for us it's "go, go, go, go"

until the storm hits.

Narrator:
This response team

is using that lead-time.

To gather truckloads of supplies

that people need

in an emergency...

Including bottled water,

flashlights, and pop tarts.

But Jason Jackson is not part

of a government disaster plan.

He works for Wal-Mart.

Thursday, August 25th. 3:30 P.M.

Katrina's wind speed

hits 74 miles an hour.

That means she's now

a category 1 hurricane...

Able to topple trees,

down power lines,

and damage homes.

At the high end of the scale,

a cat 5...

With winds above

155 miles an hour...

Can decimate entire communities,

killing anyone in its path.

6:
30 P.M.

Hurricane Katrina comes ashore.

She pummels the coast of Florida

and heads inland.

She leaves 14 people dead

and causes $460 million

in damages.

For a cat 1,

she packs a serious punch.

The reason:
Katrina's

swirling winds are high,

but she moves

over the state slowly,

at only 8 miles per hour.

An average hurricane

usually moves

at about 15 to 20 miles per hour

with its forward speed,

so it basically

hung over Florida

for an extended period of time,

exposing them to relatively weak

but hurricane-force winds

nevertheless.

Narrator:
Katrina's foray

into south Florida.

Has cost her energy.

Hurricanes typically

lose strength over land.

That's because they draw

their power from warm water,

like an engine burning fuel.

Once she's out

over the warm Gulf of Mexico,

Katrina re-energizes.

Keim:
The conditions

were very right.

Because the sea-surface

temperatures

were over 80 degrees,

which is the minimum you need

for the formation of hurricanes.

Narrator:
Friday, August 26th.

11:
30 A.M.

Katrina strengthens.

She's now

a category 2 hurricane,

and could become a 3

within the next 24 hours.

Her next target:
Anywhere

from the Florida panhandle

to Louisiana.

Along the Gulf coast,

the red cross and salvation army

are on the move.

They open shelters

and mobile feeding units.

So before the storm hits

we're moving people,

and we're also moving

our supplies.

We pre-position our supplies

in warehouses

around the Gulf coast.

Narrator:
The news about Katrina

is spreading.

But who's paying attention?

Have you ever been

to New Orleans

it's the hottest city...

narrator:

New Orleans, Louisiana.

A uniquely American city...

A rollicking mix of French,

Spanish, creole, cajun,

and African influences.

A place with its own beat.

A city of

a half a million people

spiced with jazz, voodoo,

and gumbo.

Drop me off

in New Orleans, man

narrator:
The good times roll.

On the very fragile soil

of the Mississippi delta.

This major port city is built

almost entirely below sea level.

It's shaped like a crescent

and surrounded by water:

The Gulf of Mexico

100 miles to the south;

lake pontchartrain to the north;

and the Mississippi River

winds through it.

On average, the city streets are

six feet lower than the Gulf.

It's protected by one

of the world's largest systems

of earthen levees

and floodwalls.

But some of the levees

are slowly sinking

and in need of repair.

On Friday at 5:
00 P.M.,

Katrina is northwest

of the Florida keys.

With every passing hour,

she sucks in energy

from the warm water.

She's projected to grow

into a very dangerous

category 3 hurricane...

With winds up to

130 miles per hour.

Katrina now appears

to have settled on a target

west of the Florida panhandle.

She is fast becoming a monster.

From Washington, D.C.,

to Louisiana,

local, state

and federal officials

know Katrina is coming.

Narrator:
Baton Rouge.

Here at the Louisiana

emergency operations center,

officials are in battle mode.

Several times a day,

they strategize on the phone

with emergency planners

around the state...

The ones who'll be

on the front lines

if disaster strikes.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes