Ryan Coogler's New Series Exposes the Real Story of Katrina & America
Two decades after Hurricane Katrina drowned New Orleans and exposed deep cracks in America's disaster response and racial divide, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is helping to tell the story like it's never been told before.
The Oscar-nominated filmmaker has teamed up with Oscar-winning producers Simon and Jonathan Chinn ( Searching for Sugar Man ) and director Traci A. Curry ( Attica ) for Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time , a five-part National Geographic docuseries that brings viewers inside the storm—and the systemic failure that followed.
'This series goes beyond the headlines,' Coogler said. 'It reveals stories of survival, heroism, and resilience. It's a vital historical record and a call to witness, remember, and reckon with the truth of Hurricane Katrina's legacy.'
Premiering July 27, the series opens in the sweltering summer of 2005 as Katrina barrels toward New Orleans. Episode one, The Coming Storm , sets the stage for what would become one of the most devastating natural disasters in U.S. history. But as the series makes clear, the tragedy wasn't just the hurricane—it was the government's failure to respond.
Episode two, Worst Case Scenario , captures the terrifying moment the levees broke and the city began to flood 'like a bathtub.' With emergency services overwhelmed, everyday people risked their lives to save neighbors and strangers alike.
Coogler, known for using his lens to amplify Black voices and lived experiences, said it was important that the story be told through the people who were there—not pundits or politicians.
'What happened in New Orleans wasn't just a natural disaster,' Coogler explained. 'It was the result of long-standing neglect, inequality, and abandonment. The people of New Orleans were left to fend for themselves.'
As the episodes unfold— A Desperate Place , Shoot to Kill , and Wake Up Call —the series chronicles what happened in the days and weeks after the floodwaters rose. It is an unflinching narrative of survival and strength. Viewers are taken inside the Superdome, where thousands sought shelter in dire conditions. It shines a light on the chaos and confusion at the Convention Center, the militarized response, and the media-fueled narrative of looting that often overshadowed real stories of courage.
Through it all, Race Against Time keeps its focus tight: the people who lived through Katrina. Their testimonies are raw, emotional, and unforgettable.
Director Traci A. Curry brings a cinematic edge to the storytelling, with rare archival footage, urgent pacing, and cliffhanger endings that make each episode feel like a chapter in a larger American epic.
Known for centering truth, dignity, and emotion in his work, Coogler said he approached the series the same way he approached Fruitvale Station or Judas and the Black Messiah —with deep respect for the lives behind the headlines.
'This is a story about community, about loss, but also about resilience,' Coogler said. 'The people of New Orleans didn't just survive—they resisted, they rebuilt, and they kept their culture alive.'
The series also tackles the aftermath of the storm—how families were scattered across the country, how the city changed forever, and how, even now, the scars remain.
While Race Against Time arrives 20 years after the storm, its urgency is very much present-day. It speaks to what happens when disaster meets inequality, when bureaucracy fails, and when Black lives are treated as expendable.
'This series is not just about what happened,' Coogler noted. 'It's about what we allowed to happen—and what we need to learn from it.'
Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time premieres July 27 at 8/7c on National Geographic. All five episodes will stream July 28 on Disney+ and Hulu. Source: Jazmyn Summers / Jazmyn Summers
Article by Jazmyn Summers. You can hear Jazmyn every morning on 'Jazmyn in the Morning 'on Sirius XM Channel 362 Grown Folk Jamz . Subscribe to J azmyn Summers' YouTube . Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
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Lydia Patrick/Lydia Patrick It soon became clear to her that the city's recovery is somewhat surface-level. Curry's series—a five-part documentary—peels back the veneer of post‑Katrina New Orleans to reveal the lingering scars. A Man-Made Disaster Most Americans remember the mayhem when Katrina made landfall off Louisiana on August 29, 2005. Broadcasts aired stampedes of people trapped in the Superdome, overhead footage of submerged streets, and looted grocery stores. Now, the storm is memorialized as a "man‑made" disaster, noting the failure of the emergency response and the maintenance of the aging levee system that was supposed to protect the low‑lying neighborhoods from being utterly deluged. Curry told Newsweek: "So many of the things that happened during Katrina and the story that we tell were not things created by the storm. They were things that were revealed and exacerbated by the storm," noting how it disproportionately impacted poorer Black communities. A mandatory evacuation order was put in place; tens of thousands of the city's 480,000 residents fled, but more than 100,000 remained trapped. Many made their way to the Superdome, which descended into unbridled chaos as survivors were left without means to survive. Stranded New Orleans residents gather underneath the interstate following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Stranded New Orleans residents gather underneath the interstate following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. KTVT - TV/KTVT - TV "When you're talking about class and race and, you know, all these things—so much of the reason that there were so many people left behind is because they could not afford to just because you are working class and don't have money, you are more likely to perish during Katrina," Curry added. A crowd of stranded New Orleans residents are gathered outside of the Superdome following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 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Lucrece Phillips, resident of the 8th Ward at the time of Hurricane Katrina, who shared her harrowing rescue story in the documentary series. Lucrece Phillips, resident of the 8th Ward at the time of Hurricane Katrina, who shared her harrowing rescue story in the documentary series. Disney/National Geographic/Disney/National Geographic "There's a point at which she sees the body of a dead baby in the water. She says, 'Stop the boat, we have to get her.' The man goes, 'We have to focus on the living,'" Curry recalled. Lessons Learned? Fast‑forward 20 years and New Orleans is a city forever etched by disaster. The Lower Ninth Ward was completely decimated by Katrina, and today the area once populated by working‑class Black residents remains largely vacant. "It looks like it just happened," Curry said. "There's footage in the fifth episode we shot last year: block after block of concrete steps leading nowhere—houses that no longer exist. That neighborhood has never recovered." 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