It will be 10 years since Hurricane Katrina came ashore near Buras, La., on the morning of Aug. 29, 2005, as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 145 mph. Expect an onslaught of news reports commemorating one of the nation’s worst natural disasters.
Despite criticism about the government response to the victims in New Orleans, the Coast Guard was universally praised as one agency that came through with flying colors. A short trailer has been released for a coming documentary that tells the story of the Coast Guard’s unprecedented response to Hurricane Katrina.
It looks as if the documentary will be awesome and inspiring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYBGOn0QV1g
Of the estimated 60,000 people who required rescue from rooftops and flooded homes, Coast Guardsmen saved more than 33,500, including rescuing from peril 24,135 people and evacuating 9,409 medical patients to safety.
The rescue and the response efforts were some of the largest in Coast Guard history, involving units from every district. More than 5,600 Coast Guardsmen participated in the service’s response efforts.
The film is titled “Paratus 14:50,”which refers to the Coast Guard’s motto, Semper Paratus, or always ready, and 2:50 p.m., the time of its first rescue after Katrina made landfall.
The film was created by a team of students at the University of Alabama, including director Kaitlin Smith, who funded much of the project with a Kickstarter campaign.
The 90-minute documentary is set to debut on public TV stations nationwide in August.
