I don't think we can report/write/talk/think enough about Hurricane Katrina, and the day New Orleans drowned, and the people whose lives were affected.
Frontline's "The Old Man and The Storm" tonight at 9pm on UNC-TV tells that story through one family, the Gettridges, a family split and scattered by the storm, and the family patriarch who insisted upon coming back and rebuilding, so he can bring his wife home.
There is this principle among journalists that good stories are often found by reporters who linger after the other reporters leave. Producer June Cross proves that with Mr. Gettridge, a master craftsman who not only built his home, but worked on other historic New Orleans homes. He's gotten lots of press in the local paper and appeared a few times on CNN with Anderson Cooper. Cross spends time with Gettridge and draws out more of this personal story. She narrates the piece, taking us through and explaining the bureaucratic mess wrought by insurance companies and policy makers and what that mess has cost the people who just want to go back home.
It's tough to see the mental toll taken as the Gettridge family struggles for a normalcy you know they'll never have again. I wonder about the lasting effect of that kind of loss.
Whether you think rebuilding in New Orleans is a good idea or not, you can't help being moved by this documentary.
And, as I say, since these stories can't be told enough, here's another post-Katrina New Orleans story from the Times-Picayune. Click on the Katrina diary.
Assistant Features Editor Adrienne Johnson Martin would like to have her life turned into an animated cartoon. 
Comments
Exactly
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 16:16 — adriennj (author)you saw a lone person actually getting to work and the multiple agencies talking about the work that needed to get done. glad you watched it.
I watched this documentary on Tues. night.
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 15:48 — UNC1998It was a very informative show. I totally respect. Mr. Gettridge, and feel so sorry for him and his wife. The story was almost on two levels. That of his efforts vs. the relief authorities and the one with the family and how the storm affected them all. I was truly saddened by Mrs. Gettridge declaring she was sad she came back. What a show.
All I can say is
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 12:24 — adriennj (author)Amen!
Katrina
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 11:00 — Jen1978This country cannot forget those people and what happened to them--because it's still happening. The residents of New Orleans are still struggling, still rebuilding, still grieving. It's awesome to see a show like this remind people of that. Just because our lives have moved on, doesn't mean theirs have.