Nova - Hurricane

Starring:Hugh Willoughby, Hurricane Camille
Studio: Wgbh Boston
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
Witness nature's fury as hurricanes Camille and Gilbert crash onto the Gulf coast. "It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen," says Hugh Willoughby, relishing the unusual object of his profession. "That's one of the reasons why people fly into hurricanes." Join Willoughby on a data-gathering flight made into the eye of Hurricane Gilbert in September 1988. NOVA obtained spectacular footage of the storm's centera canyon of clear blue sky surrounded by a wall of clouds 10 miles high. Watch how these highly-trained scientists routinelyand carefullyfly into the world's most destructive storms to discover what makes them tick and to measure their intensity and probable path. Then hear first-hand accounts of Hurricane Camille, the most devastating storm ever to strike the United States. As Bob Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Center says, "Even if we could issue the perfect forecast, it does no good unless you motivate people to take the right action."

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The narration is melodramatic, some of the interviews feel stagy--but the footage of Hurrican Katrina and its horrendous aftermath is staggering. Hurrican Katrina - The Storm That Drowned a City, a NOVA special, begins a year earlier, when a team of scientists created a computer simulation of the destructive effect a powerful storm could have on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Though local officials took it seriously, the federal response was skeptical, and little was done to strengthen the city's protection. Using a combination of remarkable video of the developing storm and interviews with scientists, city residents (black and white), and member of the Army Corps of Engineers, Hurrican Katrina builds a compelling story of the disaster as it unfolded. Sophisticated graphics explain how hurricanes form and how the levees failed. The special touches lightly on the possibility that global warming may be exacerbating the intensity of hurricanes, but shies away from the political storm of the meager federal response to the devastation of New Orleans. The result is a vivid, detailed description of the natural disaster, but an incomplete portrait of the social one. --Bret Fetzer

Description

On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, killing at least 1,300, destroying over 600,000 houses, and turning downtown New Orleans into an uninhabitable swamp.

In a compelling hour-by-hour reconstruction of the ferocious storm, NOVA exposes crucial failures in preparation and engineering that led to the worst disaster in U.S. history. The film probes the titanic forces behind hurricanes and the latest technology for tracking and predicting them, showing how scientists precisely foresaw the impact of a strong hurricane on New Orleans a year before Katrina struck. NOVA investigates the fatal flaws in New Orleans' levees and the huge challenge posed by protecting and rebuilding the city. As global temperatures rise, are killer storms like Katrina a growing threat?

Hurricane Katrina: The Storm that Drowned a City presents astonishing storm footage, suspenseful eyewitness testimony, and a penetrating analysis of what went wrong. Viewers relive the storm through the eyes of survivors and the stories of top engineers, hurricane experts, and emergency officials as they grappled with the arrival of the storm and its traumatic aftermath.

Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators; a link to the NOVA Web site; scene selections; closed captions; and described video for the visually impaired.

On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: Letterboxed.

Customer Reviews:

Well Balanced.......2006-10-27

This is a well balanced movie about the storm, how it was tracked by the scientists and how the flooding of the city occured. It is a very even presentation mainly on what happened and not on who was to blame. Very interesting.

An excellent look at Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans.......2006-06-10

Nova's look at The Storm That Drowned a City is by and large an excellent study of Hurricane Katrina, concentrating on the storm itself and the failure of the levee systems in New Orleans. With no obvious political agenda, the documentary only touches upon the human aspect of the storm's aftermath, pointing no fingers at city, state, or federal government.

It's not as if Katrina took New Orleans completely by surprise, as the city had dodged "the big one" on a number of occasions, including the previous year. Ivan was a monster storm that changed direction at the last moment, sparing New Orleans, and everyone there must have breathed a sigh of relief. I find it hard to believe that some city officials scoffed at the dire findings from 2004's Hurricane Pam simulation of a major storm hitting the city - it's been common knowledge for decades that a powerful hurricane would flood New Orleans. It's a beautiful city, but let's face facts here: this is the last place anyone should have built a metropolis. We're talking about a bowl sitting several feet below sea level, bordered by the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchatrain, with the Gulf of Mexico within hailing distance. Expansion had robbed the city of what little protection it had from storm surges, and the outdated levee system hid a number of vulnerabilities throughout the city.

The documentary follows Katrina's path from its origins off the coast of Africa to its fateful rendezvous with the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. It offers one of the most understandable explanations for hurricanes I've ever heard - why they form, how they behave, etc. As Katrina meanders her way across Florida on her way toward New Orleans, we see the communications between parish officials and experts at the National Hurricane Center - and the precautionary actions they began taking. Days before Katrina hit, everyone knew this could be the storm everyone had been dreading for so long. Strangely enough (and fortunately), we only see or hear of Mayor Nagin once - when he calls for the mandatory evacuation of the city. This documentary really isn't about the government response- nor does it even mention all of the irresponsible reporting in the days after the storm hit.

Once Katrina has done her worst and moved on, the documentary shifts to the failures of the levee system. Having been built to withstand a Category Three hurricane, there's no wonder that all of the incoming water overtopped some of the levees. The bigger question is why some of the city's interior levees failed, since the water never rose high enough to overspill the canals there. In these areas, we see how the levees broke due primarily to water pressure. In retrospect, they can say that the underpinnings of those canals should have been put deeper into the ground when they were built, but I'm not sure how effective that would have been, as the real problem was the loose dirt foundation in areas long shut off from annual silt deposits from the Mississippi River.

The final segment looks at ways of protecting New Orleans in the future. Even when fully repaired, the levee system will still be vulnerable to Category 4 and 5 storms, meaning the city will be no better off than it was in 2005. Some more radical solutions are offered up here, however. For example, one suggestion is to allow the Mississippi to flood certain areas, as it used to, thereby building up the disappearing wetlands that used to help protect the city from storm surges. When you consider the time and money required to secure New Orleans' future, you have to wonder if it's even worth it. As devastating as Katrina was, she was not, truth be told, "the big one." Had the city been on the eastern side of the storm and had Katrina had come ashore as an even stronger storm, the Big Easy would basically be gone - and that's a possible fate that will remain over New Orleans' head for years and years to come.

NOVA Field Trips: Weather Gone Wild - Hunt for the Supertwister/Lightning!/Hurricane!

Average customer rating:

NOVA Field Trips: Weather Gone Wild - Hunt for the Supertwister/Lightning!/Hurricane!
Starring: Nova
Manufacturer: WGBH Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Weather
World Almanac Video's Guide to Extreme Weather
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National Geographic - Tsunami: Killer Wave
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ASIN: B0002BO0D0
Release Date: 2004-06-29

Description

NOVA DIGITAL FIELD TRIPS Let NOVA take you on an adventure that reveals the mysteries of the world around us, through science. Each NOVA Digital Field Trip includes three programs accompanied by downloadable educational materials. These award-winning teacher guide materials include program descriptions, viewing suggestions, discussion questions, activities, and more. The Wild Weather Digital Field Trip includes:

Hurricane! Witness nature's fury first-hand as hurricanes Camille and Gilbert crash into the Gulf coast. Join scientist Hugh Willoughby on a data-gathering flight made into the eye of Hurricane Gilbert—a canyon of clear blue sky surrounded by a wall of clouds 10 miles high—then hear first-hand accounts from survivors of Hurricane Camille, the most devastating storm ever to strike the United States.

Hunt for the Supertwister In seconds, a supertwister can leave immense swaths of death and destruction. But what if technology could help us tame nature's most violent tornadoes? Join fearless stormchasers as they untwist mysteries that may explain how these killer storms spawn and where they are likely to strike. And venture into America's "Tornado Alley" to witness some of the most shockingly intense tornado footage ever filmed.

Lightning! NOVA takes you on a high-voltage trip into the most electrically charged weather in the world—culminating in a dazzling lightning show set to music that rivals the most extraordinary fireworks display. Join scientists as they tempt nature by creating the world's tallest lightning rod, which triggers awe-inspiring thunderbolts a few hundred feet from the observers—and creates a chunk of "petrified" lightning—then visit with some of lightning's tragic victims who thought they were out of harm's way.

Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators; a link to the NOVA Web site; scene selections; and closed captions.

Description

On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, killing at least 1,300, destroying over 600,000 houses, and turning downtown New Orleans into an uninhabitable swamp. Hurricane Katrina: The Storm that Drowned a City presents astonishing storm footage, suspenseful eyewitness testimony, and a penetrating analysis of what went wrong. Viewers relive the storm through the eyes of survivors and the stories of top engineers, hurricane experts, and emergency officials as they grappled with the arrival of the storm and its traumatic aftermath. Hurricane! - Witness nature's fury as hurricanes Camille and Gilbert crash onto the Gulf coast. "It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen," says Hugh Willoughby, relishing the unusual object of his profession. "That's one of the reasons why people fly into hurricanes." Join Willoughby on a data-gathering flight made into the eye of Hurricane Gilbert in September 1988. NOVA obtained spectacular footage of the storm's center--a canyon of clear blue sky surrounded by a wall of clouds 10 miles high. Watch how these highly-trained scientists routinely--and carefully--fly into the world's most destructive storms to discover what makes them tick and to measure their intensity and probable path. Then hear first-hand accounts of Hurricane Camille, the most devastating storm ever to strike the United States. As Bob Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Center says, "Even if we could issue the perfect forecast, it does no good unless you motivate people to take the right action."

Average customer rating:

NOVA - Hurricane
Starring: Hugh Willoughby
Manufacturer: WGBH Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

WGBH Boston | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

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( N ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

NOVA | PBS | Specialty Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

NOVA: Hunt for the Supertwister
NOVA - Lightning!
National Geographic - Tsunami: Killer Wave
The Weather
ABC News: Tsunami - Wave of Destruction

ASIN: B00021R884
Release Date: 2004-06-29

Description

Witness nature's fury as hurricanes Camille and Gilbert crash onto the Gulf coast. "It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen," says Hugh Willoughby, relishing the unusual object of his profession. "That's one of the reasons why people fly into hurricanes." Join Willoughby on a data-gathering flight made into the eye of Hurricane Gilbert in September 1988. NOVA obtained spectacular footage of the storm's center—a canyon of clear blue sky surrounded by a wall of clouds 10 miles high. Watch how these highly-trained scientists routinely—and carefully—fly into the world's most destructive storms to discover what makes them tick and to measure their intensity and probable path. Then hear first-hand accounts of Hurricane Camille, the most devastating storm ever to strike the United States. As Bob Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Center says, "Even if we could issue the perfect forecast, it does no good unless you motivate people to take the right action."

On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: 4 x 3 full frame.

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