‘Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time’ Reveals the Untold Truths of Survival | EUR Video Exclusive
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
*When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, the storm left not only physical devastation but emotional scars that have lasted for generations. “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time”, a powerful five-part series directed by Oscar nominee Traci A. Curry and executive produced by Simon & Jonathan Chinn and Ryan Coogler, chronicles the disaster through raw testimony and never-before-seen footage.
The series premieres July 27 at 8/7c on National Geographic, with streaming available the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. Curry was drawn to this story by the people of New Orleans themselves.
“I was inspired by the people of New Orleans, which I think is evident in the series,” she said. “What they told me is that they understand New Orleans as before Katrina and after. And so that right there sort of became a guiding light for how we’re going to approach the telling of the story.”
The series opens with Episode 1: The Coming Storm, as the city braces for the hurricane. For survivors like Shelton Alexander, who filmed his experience as it unfolded, participating in the series was both emotional and spiritual.
“I mean it’s one of those things where you have to feel good about what you’re doing if God gave you a gift to speak and to put it out there… But beyond that and looking all these years later, I’m just seeing more stories and hearing more stories, and I’m glad to revisit every so many years,” Alexander said.
Alexander’s own footage plays a crucial role in restoring the truth of what unfolded.
“We are also able to show how we was helping out each other and how we gathered around and that we wasn’t just fighting each other all the time… we wasn’t just fighting over food,” he recalled. “The place was a dump at different times but we also had groups that started cleaning.”
“Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time” challenges the narrative that emerged during the crisis, particularly media portrayals of chaos and violence.
“What Katrina is is where you were, what you experienced, what you saw where you stood in it,” Curry noted, citing an early conversation she had with General Honoré. “So finding that balance, it was clear that we needed to collect as many parts of that experience as possible…”.
The heart of the series lies in the humanity of those affected—how, in the face of unimaginable disaster, they chose love, unity, and faith.
Alexander said of the storm, “When I was a part of it and in it, I felt like this was about to be so much bigger than what I even imagined it was going to be…”
As the series moves through the Katrina diaspora and the long path to rebuilding, Curry acknowledges the layered emotions around terms like “resilience.”
“I have found amongst the people of the city that they grow weary of that term only because it sort of suggests this ability to endure all things and to carry all suffering,” Curry said. “But I do think there is something extraordinary about the true story that we tell in the series.”
She continued, “Those ties did not break during Katrina when there was every reason that it should have happened… they showed up with care and concern and love and humanity for themselves and each other.”
From the moments before the storm to the long, unresolved aftermath, “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time” is a necessary reckoning with the truth—told by the people who lived it.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Hulu Releases Trailer for ‘King of the Hill’ Season 14 Revival
Sign up for our Free daily newsletter HERE.
The post ‘Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time’ Reveals the Untold Truths of Survival | EUR Video Exclusive appeared first on EURweb | Black News, Culture, Entertainment & More.
