Everyone knows Katrina was a Category 5 storm, but this documentary proves the real disaster started after the levees broke, when time, race, and power collided.
You’ll never look at FEMA, New Orleans, or the word “recovery” the same way again.
While “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts” is the best documentary on Katrina, “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time” is a close second.
Trailer for “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time”
You Can’t Make This Sh*t Up
- A Black survivor who commandeered a boat to rescue neighbors was later portrayed by media outlets as a “thug looting property.”
- Some survivors still haven’t returned to New Orleans—20 years later—because of PTSD and lack of support.
Watch “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time”
You can stream “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time” on Hulu, Disney+, fuboTV, National Geographic, Amazon Video, and Apple TV. Check current platforms here.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 95/100
- IMDB Rating: 7.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: not yet rated
Director’s Note: Directed by Oscar-nominated Traci A. Curry. Co-produced by Lightbox and Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media.
Release Date: August 2025 (in time for the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina)
My Review of “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time”
The Setup
The series drops you straight into August 2005. But it does more than show levees breaking. This is Katrina told through the eyes of survivors—no filters, no sugarcoating. Their firsthand accounts reveal what it felt like to wait on a rooftop, be labeled a “looter” instead of a victim, or lose trust in every system meant to help.
More Highlights from the Doc
- One woman describes taking in orphaned children during the storm—only to be treated with suspicion and mistrust by law enforcement during evacuation.
- FEMA and city officials delayed rescue operations, even when they had intel that neighborhoods were underwater.
- Shows how the trauma didn’t end with the floodwaters—many survivors still suffer from survivor’s guilt and systemic neglect.
- Archival footage includes unheard dispatch calls, local news clips, and first-responder videos—some never broadcast before.
- Raw interviews show families split between rooftops, unsure who had survived or been swept away.
Cameos – Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- One first responder tells how he went door-to-door in a kayak—not sanctioned by his department, but on his own time, just to get people help.
- Some survivors detail how racial profiling at shelters led to people being separated from family members or denied access to basic aid.
- The documentary shows how the term “refugee” used by media wasn’t just inaccurate—it actively dehumanized the displaced, many of whom were U.S. citizens and homeowners.
- One evacuee recounts how strangers on the road north fed them, gave diapers, and made room in their car—but officials at checkpoints treated them like criminals.
Wrap Up
“Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time” is essential viewing—not just to remember, but to understand how quickly a natural disaster turned into a moral failure. This is the Katrina story told the way it should’ve been from the start.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc