I'm Rebecca Lavoie, and this is You Can't Make This Up.

You Can't Make This Up is the podcast where we uncover the true stories behind your favorite Netflix documentaries and films.

On today's episode, we take a closer look at the Netflix documentary series, Katrina,

come hell and high water.

The first casualty of Katrina and the floods was normal.

And since then, we have been living with a new normal.

Today we're talking to showrunner, Elisa Payne, and episode director Samantha Knowles.

When a Category 5 hurricane changed its path to bear down on New Orleans, the city was caught flat-footed.

Residents had discounted the warnings, politicians were slow to respond, and the infrastructure

designed to ensure public safety

failed. Those who lived through the natural disaster found themselves struggling for days to survive

in a battered city where help would not arrive. When it was over, officials saw an opportunity

to build the community back better, but for people displaced and institutions altered, that promise remains

unfulfilled. From executive producer Spike Lee, the Netflix series Katrina, Come Hell and Highwater,

tells the story of what happened, what's changed, and what hasn't. It recounts the horrifying

experiences of those whose lives were forever changed by the storm.

And it provides a report card 20 years later on the long-term efforts to rebuild a community and its culture and the effects of Katrina's wounds that won't heal.

20 years later, the shit is still real.

That's what make it a disaster.

Thank you. That's what make it a disaster. And I'm joined now by director Samyth the Knowles and showrunner Elisa Payne.

Welcome to You Can't Make This Up.

Thank you so much.

...