Spike Lee just might be one of America's most controversial film makers, often frankly and starkly addressing the issues of race and class.
Last night his four part documentary "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" debuted on HBO, but rather than inject his own view as would Michael Moore, Lee insteads lets the survivors and citizens of the late great city of New Orleans tell their own story.
The Story of an American City that was neglected and allowed to drown as the rest of the Country looked on in horror, and while Emperor Bush and all his his men (and woman) fiddled.
It's been just under a year since New Orleans was destroyed. A rather morbid first anniversary still awaits us. In anticipation of this, Lee begins his story at the beginning - as Hurricane Katrina is upgraded to a Category 4 and then 5 after devestating the southern tip of Florida and turns towards the Gulf Coast.
The warnings are evident. Mayor Nagin, after consultation with Max Mayfield, the head of the National Weather Service, orders a mandatory evacuation on August 29th, one day before land fall. Most residents of the city leave, the streets and airport are jammed, city buses are provided to take people to the save haven of last resort - the Superdome.
Some people are too stubborn to leave, some too poor. Many people still remember the landfall of Hurrican Betsy in 1965, which prompted massive flooding and deliberate breech of the levees in order to save much of city. Even with this in their consciousness, far too many believe they can "Stick it out".
Nagin certainly does not escape criticism in this film. Lee in an interview with the LA Watts Times:
LAWT: Did your opinion change about Ray Nagin?
LEE: He's a great politician. What I mean by that is that he's very personable. He'll smile and hug you and maek you feel good. But, once you get past that, you have to get the job done. You can go through a list of things he did that ended up coasting people their livse. Very slow in issuing mandatory evacuation. Not taking into account the people who had no means of evacuating. Stories about Amtrak offerin trains out of New Orleans and no one from the citygovernment returning their calls.
LAWT: And what about Condoleeza Rice?
LEE: That's an evil woman. I'll just say it point black.
This may be Lee's personal view, but it isn't reflected in the film -- only the view of those he interviews are shown. The lateness of the mandatory evacuation - on Monday the 29th instead of on the 28th when Nagin talked to the weather service chief - is addressed, but few of the other issues.
President Bush and Micheal Chertoff were also alerted of the danger to the levees by Max Mayfield, Monday afternoon in the video most of us have already seen.
From Crooks and Liars
(AP Story) Video-WMP Video-QTFederal officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief of possible devastation just before Hurricane Katrina struck. Six days of video footage from briefings and transcripts were obtained by The Associated Press. The warnings were that the storm could breach levees, risk lives in the New Orleans Superdome and overwhelm rescuers. A-P reports Bush didn't ask any questions during the final government-wide briefing the day before Katrina struck on August 29th...
Again, the warnings were ample. Problems with the New Orleans levee system have been known since 1927 when they were strategically destroyed to prevent devestating flooding, just as they were again in 1965 after Hurricane Betsy. In 2002, the National Weather Service ran a simulation of the effect of a Category 3 Hurricane on the New Orleans area - they called it Hurricane Pam.
Once the Storm reached landfall late Monday night, most of Nagin's options ended. The city was in total lockdown starting at 2 am and into the following evening.
Estimated Katrina Flood Depth from NOAA
Despite this Governor Blanco had already declared a State of Emergency on the 26th. The White House responded and declared the Gulf Coast a disaster area, an act that transfered authority and responsiblity to DHS and FEMA. Both are ordered to prepare "to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures."
But none of this is what makes Lee's film compelling.
It's all in the personal stories, the one on one interviews. People describing moment by moment what it was like to try and weather the storm in their homes, in the Hyatt Regency Downtown - and in the Superdome.
People describing hearing a loud BOOM, followed by other crashes - just as the levee broke. The argument of whether this was a deliberate destruction of the levee - The Levee Bomb - (as occured both in 1927 and 1965) is discussed, as well as the possibility that it may have simply been the sound of the levee walls collapsing on their own - or the sound of a barge impacting the walls. A conclusive answer isn't found, as the purpose of this film isn't to investigate that issue - but tell the people's story.
And harrowing stories they are, of fighting back to escape the rising water - while the one Federal Agency who seemed to have their eye on the ball - the Coast Guard - worked overtime to help, sending their pilots out to fly double-shifts to rescue trapped citizens.
Most of the rescuees were taken to the Civic Center, others to the interstate where they were left. Abandoned. No food. No water.
The Superdome, now cracked and leaking after the storm fulled to overflowing with people - nearly 40,000. The flood waters destroyed communications, knocked out electricity, stopped up plumbing.
Some survivors raided the nearby stores for food, and some - while most of the police were busy with rescue efforts - for electronics gear. Fear spread. Sanitation broke down. The Heat was excruciating. One resident: "They always saying we should go back to Africa. We'll if it's as hot as this - Fuck That!"
Days passed. Bush went on Vacation and declares "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees". Micheal "Brownie" of Fema did a "Heckuvajob" (of sitting on his hands). Lee's film does not address the email trail of desperate messages to Brown from the one FEMA Employee who was in town during Katrina, Marty Bahamonde. But Marty wasn't the only one with a desperate story.
One man told the story of how his wheelchair bound mother died at the Superdome while waiting for the bus to rescue them - "It'll be here any minute now momma... any minute"
Ten minutes later she was gone. He found a blanket to cover her, and wrote a note with her name, his name and phone number so that she could be identified and pushed her to the side. Nothing else he could do.
He along with many of the rest of us were helpless.
People trapped on the interstate who attempted to cross the Mississippi river and escape the disaster area are met and turned back by police at gunpoint.
The film features Soledad O'Brien of CNN grilling Michael Brown - "How could you not know what we know (About the people trapped at the Superdome)? How could our intelligence be better than yours?".
Eventually, after Mayor Nagin breaks down on the radio in pleading for help - the President finally arrives and the exodus begins. On day five, Lt Gen Russell Honore, Commander of Task Force Katrina, is at last on the scene with food, medicine and buses.
The final evacuation is chaotic and wrenching, families are torn apart and scattered across the country - there is no organization and still no plan.
Later after nearly everyone is gone, Soledad O'Brien tours the Civic Center with the CNN crew. "It smells like death, and urine and like people crawled through a sewer to get here". They do a spot outside on the street and notice a body, covered by a sheet, out in the open.
When they return two days later, the body is still there.
Still alone. Still neglected. Just like the city of New Orleans remains to this very day.
Parts 3 & 4 Air Tonight on HBO.
Vyan
No comments:
Post a Comment