When the Levees Broke

"New Orleans is fighting for its life. These are not people who will disappear quietly - they're accustomed to hardship and slights, and they'll fight for New Orleans. This film will showcase the struggle for New Orleans by focusing on the profound loss, as well as the indomitable spirit of New Orleaneans."

-- Spike Lee

Spike Lee's documentary on Katrina, NOLA and the whole debacle, When the Levees Broke, airs tonight and tomorrow on HBO. It's on now (9 PM ET). From the HBO site:

As the world watched in horror, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005. Like many who watched the unfolding drama on television news, director Spike Lee was shocked not only by the scale of the disaster, but by the slow, inept and disorganized response of the emergency and recovery effort. Lee was moved to document this modern American tragedy, a morality play witnessed by people all around the world. The result is WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS. The film is structured in four acts, each dealing with a different aspect of the events that preceded and followed Katrina's catastrophic passage through New Orleans.

The documentary airs in its entirety on Tuesday, August 29 from 8:00 PM-midnight -- the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

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Scout Prime at First Draft emailed me about a video she did that's worth watching, The Great Deluge: Tom & Jen's Story. of a St. Bernard Parish couple who recounted what occurred when the flood waters hit their home during Katrina.



Scout: "Next will be how they saved their elderly neighbors stuck in their attic. Finally how they were evacuated. It is compelling and very detailed and even humorous at times. I doubt people have heard a Katrina story in such depth."

Here are parts Two and Three.