When the Levees Broke

I spent the day studying for class, as well as watching the wonderful 4-part documentary When the Levees Broke. Spike Lee did a wonderful job of chronicaling the Katrina disaster, from the night the hurricane hit till months later when residents are still displaced and still not getting the help they need.

Some of the things that hit me: the fact that many of the people did not evacuate. Many of course did not have the means to evacuate, but many also thought they could ride it out. That sounds stupid in retrospect, but in reality it does make sense. Just a few days ago, everyone was upset about another hurricane that didn't rise to the level they thought it would, so I am assuming those in New Orleans thought the same would be with Katrina. How many times can you hear a disaster is coming and you have to evacuate, only to find it turns out to not be that big of a disaster. Of course with Katrina, it did end up that way, but you can see why some might dismiss the warnings to evacuate.

Someone in the documentary referred to Katrina as the 50-foot tall woman who was trying to tear off the roof of the Superdome. What an apt visual that is.

Mike Brown, the ridiculous choice for director of FEMA, comes off as a very pleasant man, someone you might want to have as a friend or date, and have to your house for a party, but in the footage, he just looks like a big goofy boob.

Spike Lee interspersed his own interviews of people with news footage. Some of my favorite footage was of Soledad O'Brien with CNN. Her interview with Brown was priceless. She kept asking him how her 23-year old research assistant at CNN could have more intel on the Katrina situation than Brown and FEMA. He never did answer the question.

The vignettes of people talking about being stuck in New Orleans, the heat, no water, no food, the stench, the bodies piled up for days, is just heartbreaking. Some of the residents did not want to return to New Orleans, saying that they didn't feel wanted there. But many more said they just wanted to come home. I can't imagine being in that position. I wonder how these people will ever recover from this event. One of the most inspiring moments in the series was when General Honore was telling the police and the guard to put their weapons down.

Try to catch the series if you can. It is on HBO On Demand through Sept. 16.