Hurricane Katrina – The
Storm That Drowned A City (Nova)
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C- Episode: B
It is absolutely bizarre how badly the media has been
covering, to outright ignoring, the real story behind what happened in The
South after Hurricane Katrina. There
are endless politics involved and plenty of blame to go around as the ugliest
and worst things about it keep coming out in the media every day. However, no one has given a thorough look at
when went wrong technically and been specific or detailed about it. Enter the ever-reliable series Nova
to deliver Hurricane Katrina – The Storm That Drowned A City.
To its credit, it stays away form the politics of the
whole situation, though it does explicitly explain that even scientists tried
to alert authorities and did not listen or want to hear. The hour-long show begins with the coming
storms, then explains the levee situation, including excellent animation that
anyone could understand. Then it
explains how even people there were not taking any of it seriously and paid
high prices as a result. Then, we see
in painstaking detail the fallout of the storm and the catastrophe that is in
many ways without precedent. However,
this is the most factual and inarguable side of what happened and political
spin cannot change that or bring back the joy of the people, lost wealth, lost
property or lost lives. This is
journalism at its best.
The letterboxed 1.78 X 1 image has detail limits it would
not have if it would have been anamorphically enhanced, but it is new and still
good enough. The Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo has Pro Logic surrounds and is a new recording that reflects that. The usual limited extras, including video
descriptive services, DVD-ROM printable educational materials and a weblink are
included.
- Nicholas Sheffo
