Netflix releases Katrina: Come Hell and High Water for 20th anniversary of deadly storm
Spike Lee returns with a three-part Netflix documentary revisiting Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, survivors’ stories, and the systemic failures that left New Orleans and the Gulf Coast vulnerable
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Netflix has released a new three-part documentary, Katrina: Come Hell and High Water, timed to the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
The series, produced with Spike Lee and directed by Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles, and Lee himself, revisits the storm that killed more than 1,300 people, displaced thousands, and reshaped New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
Lee first chronicled the disaster in his 2006 HBO series When the Levees Broke and returned in 2010 with If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise. The Netflix release completes what many see as a trilogy, catching up with survivors whose lives were permanently altered by the catastrophe.
Producer and showrunner Alisa Payne told the New York Times the series aimed to reach a younger generation with little memory of the storm. It blends first-person accounts with rare archival footage, including unaired network video that revealed the desperate conditions inside New Orleans in 2005.
The documentary also revisits the Brad Pitt-backed “Make It Right” housing project, which promised hope for displaced families but later became mired in lawsuits and accusations of faulty construction.
“It’s the story of a brutal coastal hurricane turned cataclysmic through human error and neglect,” Netflix said in its synopsis.
Our Journey, a Gray Louisiana Special
Hurricane Katrina: 20 years later
The chilling NWS advisory that warned of ‘uninhabitable’ Gulf Coast
Forecasters predicted “devastating damage” and cities left “uninhabitable for weeks” as Katrina approached the Gulf Coast
Viewers on social media have called it “heartbreaking,” “essential,” and “a must-watch” for anyone seeking to understand how Katrina reshaped New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
All three episodes of Katrina: Come Hell and High Water are now streaming on Netflix.
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