Hurricane Katrina | Beyond Critical | 3

Against The Odds

Wondery

Cassie De Pecol, History, Society & Culture, Dolby, Mike Corey, Dolby Atmos, Atmos

4.7 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 August 2023

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Days after Hurricane Katrina floods their city, residents of New Orleans become increasingly desperate, as the government bungles the rescue effort. Using doors and other items to make improvised rafts, people make their way from their flooded homes to the Superdome and the Convention Center, which the city has set up as emergency shelters, only to find both venues lacking in food and resources. Meanwhile, the city’s largest public hospital, Charity, remains unevacuated, as its staff struggles to keep critical patients alive.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	A listener note, against the odds uses dramatizations that are based on true events.
0:06.6	Some elements including dialogue may be invented, but everything is based on research.
0:12.3	This episode of Against the Odds contains explicit language, please be advised.
0:26.2	Jabbar Gibson cracks open the front door of his apartment building in the Fisher housing project and peers outside.
0:33.2	He sees his mother Bernice speaking to a pair of uniformed police officers, Gibson's heart pounds.
0:40.2	Right now, his mother is the only thing standing between him and Jail.
0:45.7	It's late morning on Wednesday, August 31st.
0:49.0	Two days since Hurricane Katrina pummeled New Orleans, leaving the residents of Fisher without power and water.
0:55.8	They're running low on food and some people are out of their medications.
1:00.3	The levees are breached and the city is flooding.
1:03.6	Gibson is sure Fisher will flood soon too and there's been no sign of rescue.
1:09.4	That's why he stole the school bus now parked at the curb in order to evacuate as many residents as possible.
1:16.2	But just as he'd gotten the bus loaded with passengers, the police showed up.
1:21.2	Gibson had no choice but to flee.
1:23.7	He was recently arrested for drug possession.
1:26.4	If he's caught with a stolen school bus, he sure the cops will haul him away in handcuffs.
1:31.8	And he'll probably seize the school bus too, leaving the Fisher project residents stranded.
1:38.5	He strains to hear the conversation between Bernice and the police.
1:42.4	No one else is trying to help us get out of here.
1:45.0	We're basically on our own.
1:47.3	At least my son is doing something.
1:50.4	One of the officers glances toward the door where Gibson is hiding.
	...

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