THIS month, it is 20 years since a category-five hurricane tore through the Gulf Coast of the United States, leaving catastrophic storm surges and flooding in its wake, and decimating parts of New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina: Race against time (five episodes released 27 July, Disney+) is the record of what happened, told by the people who lived through it.
It is an upsetting story of human misery on a horrific scale, but also an enraging tale of incompetence, stupidity, and grotesque injustice. A community organiser, Malik Rahim, said: “The tragedy of Katrina was man-made: a hurricane of government failure.”
The mistakes made before the hurricane, and most egregiously afterwards, comprise a catalogue of errors which contributed to make a terrible situation far worse than it should have been. New Orleans has a high level of poverty, and it was the poor — the disabled, the elderly, the young, and the sick — whose needs ought to have been prioritised, owing to their vulnerability, but weren’t.
Today, New Orleans is a tale of two cities: one of economic growth and gentrification, the other of stagnation and decline. The 9th Ward, which was destroyed by flooding, had a population of 14,000 before Katrina. In 2022, this had fallen to just 4630. The loss of communities of people, scattered and displaced, has led to a sense of storylessness for individuals which cannot be repaired. They lost connection to their own histories, not just their homes.
Some residents are working hard to mitigate that loss of history by creating new stories of hope. A community wetland has been created where the 9th Ward once stood, and cypress trees have been planted. For Mr Rahim, the overarching lesson is a test case for the claim of the United States’ greatness. “We were the canaries in this coalmine we call America. That’s what would make America great: how we respond to those in need.”
Johnny Vegas: Art, ADHD and me (Channel 4, Wednesday) follows the comedian as he creates a piece of public art for his home town, St Helens. This is a touching exploration, not just of the part played by neurodiversity in formation, but also the part played by place, and how both can be expressed through creativity. Vegas is an art-school graduate with a degree in ceramics; the project is a return to his creative, as well as his geographical, roots.
Using the themes of faith and flight, he refers to the destructive part that religion played in his upbringing, how it “stole his youth” from him, and how art gave him wings. It was his salvation. The formation of this endearing but deeply insecure man — through clay into tangible works of art — is profoundly moving to witness: a heart-warming and inspiring experience.
