Katrina: Come Hell and High Water recap: A disaster, failure of a government and discrimination

Netflix’s Katrina: Come Hell and High Water premiered on August 27, 2025, and depicted the people of New Orleans enduring one of their worst natural disasters when Hurricane Katrina struck the city.

Directed by Spike Lee, Geeta Gandbhir, and Samantha Knowles, the three-part documentary showed how the state and the country failed to protect their citizens from a natural disaster. The hurricane caused 1,392 fatalities, and its aftermath exposed systemic racial discrimination in the United States, particularly against the African American community.

The documentary showed how unprepared the state was, and that the Ninth Ward had to suffer the most. Furthermore, in the aftermath, rising crime against the Black community and rapid gentrification further harmed an already underprivileged population.

Here’s what happened in Netflix's Katrina: Come Hell and High Water.

Disclaimer: The article contains spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.

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Katrina: Come Hell and High Water recap: The city was not prepared

Katrina: Come Hell and High Water depicted how the people of New Orleans were not prepared for a disaster that would affect them immensely, as they were not informed about its severity. In the documentary, the Ninth Ward, a distinctive region in New Orleans that is below sea level, was shown to be the worst-affected area.

The documentary showed how the state tried to avoid taking responsibility for its failure to take appropriate measures during the disaster. The people were asked to evacuate the place, with numerous other organizations, including parish authorities, trying to help the citizens.

They were asked to take refuge in the Hilton Hotel and the Louisiana Superdome. However, these efforts highlighted how the underprivileged, particularly the African American community, suffered the most during and after the hurricane.

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Katrina: Come Hell and High Water recap: Rise in racial discrimination

While the people suffered during the hurricane, Katrina: Come Hell and High Water also showed how the lives of the people of New Orleans were turned upside down in the aftermath of the natural disaster. Further, as the systems began to fail and the flood waters began entering the city, it caused pure mayhem, especially for the underprivileged people.

Amid the rising crisis for survival, the city also started to show racial discrimination toward the African American community. For instance, the case of Roland Bourgeois Jr., who attacked and shot several African American men, underscored how deeply rooted racial prejudice remained in America

Aside from the failure of the government and the police, the rescue and other operations saw a positive change when Lt. General Russel L. Honoré took charge. From not letting the police carry guns during their patrolling to planning the whole mission, Honoré did a remarkable job in carrying out the mission as humanely as possible.

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Katrina: Come Hell and High Water recap: The gentrification of New Orleans

While the city lost its vibrancy due to a natural disaster which could have been properly managed by the country, which is regarded as the superpower of the current world, the aftermath shown in Katrina: Come Hell And High Water, depicted how the stains of the disaster did not leave the people.

After the destruction, the financial institutions sketched only the regions that were profitable to them, leaving the lands that would not bring much money, which happened to be the areas where the underprivileged people resided. Later, the gentrification of New Orleans brought more chaos as the rising white community tried to erase the African American community from the city by not letting them be a part of the community; for instance, numerous teachers lost their jobs as they were replaced by people from popular colleges.

However, it was Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Project, with William Bridge, which initially brought relief as they built houses for them at low cost. But the plan was far from successful as the houses began to break down after only 5 years, prompting the people to sue Pitt’s project. Although Bridge shared in Katrina: Come Hell And High Water that they were planning to help the people in any way possible, their suffering did not end, and became a part of a traumatic memory for many.

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