Katrina: Come Hell and High Water
Netflix
While Netflix produces a number of documentaries that are worth watching, and a number that aren’t, this week they’ve released one that a lot of Americans will resonate with, as it’s one of the biggest tragedies of the last 20 years in the country. And it’s being released on its 20 year anniversary, landing with a 100% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The documentary is Katrina: Come Hell and High Water, which focuses on the harrowing story of the hurricane that drowned New Orleans for weeks, killed 1,833 and caused $100 billion in damage, much of that due to the failed New Orleans levees.
The documentary is currently #1 on Netflix’s Top 10 list, ahead of Hostage and megahit Wednesday. It’s three and a half hours long across three episodes, and broken into three parts. The first is about the lead-up to the hurricane, which led to an evacuation order just hours before it hit, and thousands were not able to abide by it as it was just too late. The second part is the hurricane and its immediate aftermath, including the infamous stay in the Superdome that served as shelter as FEMA failed to react quickly enough. Finally, the third episode is a reflection on the event 20 years later, honoring those who died in the storm and how it has transformed New Orleans to this day.
NEW ORLEANS – AUGUST 30: People walk through high water in front of the Superdome August 30, 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Thousands of people are left homeless after Hurricane Katrina hit the area yesterday morning. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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Like many documentaries, there are not all that many critic reviews in, but they are all positive thus far. Here’s a sampling of why many Katrin: Come Hell or High Water is so effective:
- New York Times – “Often it is meant to enrage, a searing reminder of the human error, neglect and outright violence that cost so many people their lives and livelihoods.”
- Guardian – “Come Hell and High Water is a stirring tribute to what has been lost and what has been stolen, but it assures us that New Orleans will never be gone, even if it will never be the same.”
- Decider – “It’s hard to forget the footage of New Orleans 20 years after Hurricane Katrina, but Katrina: Come Hell And High Water brings the storm and its aftermath down to a personal level in a way that makes the horrors of what happened fresh all over again.”
I was a freshman in college when Katrina hit, and the closest thing to it I recall was 9/11, watching the entire city of New Orleans underwater, knowing that hundreds if not thousands had died, and were still dying. This was in slow motion, as rescue was painfully slow, and every day you could turn on the TV and still see nothing having changed. I’m going to watch this doc myself and see how represents the hurricane.
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