Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina roared ashore in Louisiana and Mississippi. The National Hurricane Center describes Katrina as an extraordinarily powerful and deadly hurricane that carved a wide swath of catastrophic damage and inflicted large loss of life... some 1,400 people died.
Katrina left 80 percent of New Orleans underwater, and hundreds of thousands of survivors with no idea what the future would hold and if they would ever have a community to return to and call home.
As one of the worst disasters in US history unfolded, WWL Radio remained the only lifeline to those trapped in New Orleans and the first connection for displaced evacuees and the outside world, desperate to hear of the extent of the carnage left behind by Katrina and three levee breaches.
Join us as WWL remembers the tragedy, heartbreak, and catastrophe, and as we celebrate the victories, recovery, and progress two decades after Katrina. You'll hear untold stories from firsthand witnesses, including Newell Normand, Garland Robinette, Bobby Hebert, Deuce McAllister and many more, as they recount what we went through and how far we have come.
WWL Presents: Katrina...20 years later - the rebirth of one of America’s most beloved cities.
Hear WWL's Hurricane Katrina Audio that won the National Murrow Awards for Spot News and Continuing Coverage. WWL also won a National Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting for investigating the alleged mercy killings in hospitals in the Katrina aftermath.
WWL also won three Marconi Awards in 2007 for coverage of the recovery and rebuilding after Katrina; taking home Legendary Station of the Year, Medium Market Station of the Year, and News-Talk Station of the Year.
Newell Normand, Former Jefferson Parish Sheriff and WWL Radio Host
Listen to Newell talk about the destruction he and his team found after Katrina's landfall... then the "pissing matches" he found himself fighting with federal authorities as they tried to rescue and evacuate survivors. He also talks about helping create the first-ever Cajun Navy.
“He said they want to arrest you for shutting the airport down. I said, ‘Tell them to bring it on. But let me tell you something, Jim. In the interim, I've got 20 to 30 national and international news stations, not 300 feet from where I'm standing right now. I will hold a press conference, and I will tell the world exactly what's going on here and what these numbskulls in Baton Rouge intend to do.’ And I said, ‘We'll see who's gonna win this battle because y'all are providing nothing for anybody down here, and these people are dying.’”
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Garland Robinette, Former WWL Radio Host
"I was in Aceh, Indonesia, when the Tsunami hit, and the U.S. hospital ship was there a day later. And here we are, three to five days after, and nobody's coming. When I hit the air, I was dangerous because I was pissed. I didn't care if I made the governor mad, the mayor mad. Anybody. I was attacking everybody in sight. That's when my producer got a call from President Bush. He said, 'I want a one-on-one with this guy, just him and me.'"
Click the above player to hear Garland's historic interview with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin
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Bobby Hebert, Former Saints Quarterback, Founding Father of Who Dat Nation, and WWL Radio Personality
"That wasn't even a football game. That was a spiritual experience. It was like the Super Bowl," the Cajun Cannon states about the energy of the Saints' first game back in New Orleans versus the Falcons. "Atlanta didn't have a chance. Morten Anderson even said, 'We didn't feel like we had a chance.' I mean, who couldn't cheer for the Saints?"
"And then the Steve Gleason blocked punt. That might've been the loudest I heard The Dome. We needed that type of play. And that's when you knew: The Saints are coming back. We're Home."
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Deuce McAllister, Legendary Saints Running back, Superbowl XLIV Champion, and WWL Color Analyst
"You find out in January that the Saints are coming back to New Orleans. We are not moving to San Antonio... Even though it was a year later, people are still dealing with Katrina. They're still dealing with adjusters. They're still dealing with blue tarps," says Deuce on returning to the Superdome.
"So for three hours, we want to give our fans hope. That's what we tried to do... You think about the horrors, the hurt, the resiliency of the people who pushed to get that place (The Dome) back open. And we said, 'Don't let this end in a loss."
Diane Newman: WWL Brand Manager of WWL
"As I drove back for the first time from Baton Rouge, it was like the saddest place in the world...But I always believed in the guts, in the DNA of New Orleans, and its people. We're just a little bit crazy. We're just a little bit nuts. We feel love at a deeper level than most, I think. I always believed in that."
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Dave Cohen: WWL News Director
"I went back and listened to a call we received from this woman in Holly Grove. The water was rising. She had two children. One was running a fever. Their attic ceiling had already collapsed. They couldn't get out of the attic...They don't have a ladder. We had to talk them through getting on their roof as the water was rising... That was just one of so many calls. And to this day, I don't know if that woman, her children, and the other people with her made it. I had the urge over the years to find out if they made it, but I never could quite get there. Because I'm afraid that even though we tried our hardest as a voice in the dark on the radio to help them find a way to survive, that maybe they didn't."
Click below to hear Dave Cohen break the news on WWL August 30th, 2005, that the flood waters were not going down, they were rising.
Listen to WWL's series on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
The documenting of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans isn't in short supply. Twenty years later, the world wants to know what happened in New Orleans on August 29th, 2005, and the days, weeks, months, and years that followed.
There’s no end to the stories, but their vastness does not diminish the power of each individual account.
WWL Radio has its own story— a collection of memories from those who bore witness to extreme catastrophe, but decided to defend, fight, and uphold their city at its lowest.
It was on WWL Radio that Dave Cohen first announced that New Orleans had not dodged the bullet: The levees broke; the bowl was filling; the city would soon be underwater.
It was on WWL that residents called from atop roofs and mausoleums as the waters rose. They announced their coordinates on live radio so that emergency services could come to the rescue.
It was on WWL airwaves that Garland Robinette thundered so desperately and wrathfully, to the extent that the President of the United States could not hide any longer.
Our story, your story, all fold into the story of a city that fought against nature, against neglect, against cynicism and despair while all odds were stacked against her. That’s why, on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we choose to remember that fight... a continuing fight.
In this series, you’ll hear stories from WWL members who held the firing line and weathered the storm, including Garland Robinette, Newell Normand, Dave Cohen, Diane Newman, Deuce McAllister, Bobby Hebert, Don Dubuc, Tommy Tucker, Mike Hoss, and Jordan Fiegel.
You’ll also hear from key figures pivotal in keeping the heart of New Orleans beating, culturally, economically, and spiritually, including Drew Brees, Kermit Ruffins, Quint Davis, Scott Shanle, Ronal Serpas, Barry Keim, Arnie Fielkow, Jim Henderson, Daphien Barnes, Michael Hcht, Walt Leger, Beaux Jones, Greg Rusovich, Michael Cowan, Ella Grace Francis, Billy Dorsey, Marlon Favorite, Rafael Goyeneche, Dr. James Riopelle, Arthur Hardy, Lacy Osborne, Fred LeBlanc of Cowboy Mouth, Daphine Barnes, and a host of others.
Please join us in remembering the loss, rebirth, and fight for New Orleans.
Keep up with WWL's continuing coverage of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
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