In a world where we have been seeing an increased number of natural disasters, Nat Geo recounts one of the worst events on it’s 20th  Anniversary. This doc series, Hurricane Katrina – Race Against Time, is presented in 5 episodes exploring the events leading up to it, the tragedy itself, and the resulting repercussions.

Exec produced by Ryan Coogler and his production Company Proximity Media, with Academy Award & Emmy winning producers at Lightbox, this will air on Nat Geo, Disney+, and Hulu starting on July 27th.

As we come up to the anniversary of this event, it is timely as we have just seen another disaster in Texas and are starting to dissect how that may have happened.
I recommend you watch all of the series, to see the timeline and the way they have structured the recalling of the events.

Let’s direct our attention to the way that story is told.
It is historical, and the series recounts it in an engaging and digestible format.
Documentaries can have a narrative which present a perspective and is led by a team of filmmakers.

As you examine your own storytelling, there are lessons here. As engaged as you will be watching the series, make sure you take the time to look at it. In other words, how did they make this?

In this case, the key filmmakers are the lead editor Jeremy Seifer and his team of 4 editors, and the person who had creative control, showrunner, Myles Estey.

I had the chance to speak with these gentlemen to get some insight regarding their storytelling.
Now when I say storytelling, that is not meant to infer, that any untruths were presented.

Filmmakers choose a narrative to share, based on, in this case, thousands of hours of news footage, and then current interviews with the actual participants.

By screening all of this footage, a storyline emerges. Combined with the interviews, with those still willing to participate, the questions to be asked begin to define the viewpoint.

As all editorial teams bin, or collect, categories/subjects to pull from, the editors get to the structure.

Their mission in this case is to tell the complete as possible recounting of events, that may have led to the failure of the levees,

A computer-generated image shows the Bowl Effect in New Orleans. (National Geographic)

The response by the leaders, and the effects on the actual people who were there and experienced this tragedy.

Mayor Nagin and others speak at a press conference about the master plan to rebuild New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. (KXAS-NBC 5 Collection/UNT Libraries Special Collections)

An aerial view of a broken levee after Hurricane Katrina. (Pond5)

Crowds of stranded residents and National Guardsmen gather outside the Superdome following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. (ABC News)

There are heroes and villains, and people just caught in the effects of the disaster. Lt. General Russel Honoré emerges as one helluva hero.

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, Lt. General Russel Honoré served as commander of Joint Task Force Katrina and is widely credited for reestablishing order and evacuating the Superdome. Prioritizing rescues, care and dignity for people left stranded, he quickly won great acclaim when he ordered National Guard troops to lower their weapons. With emotional accounts of survivors and immersive archival footage, National Geographic’s Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time reveals Hurricane Katrina as a disaster that was anything but natural. (National Geographic)

Then we get to the way to draw an audience in.

One of the key factors in any film is the music. It leads brings you in, and sets a tone.
In the very beginning, there is an ominous tone, and the voice of a New Orleans official saying he didn’t know if they had enough body bags.

That line alone is chilling, and sets the stage.

The composer, Amanda Jones became an integral part of the series and the audio thread she weaves all throughout, brings you, the viewer, a fuller, nuanced story. If you listen carefully, you will hear her contributions throughout.

All of this, with deft editing, reveals an arc.

Beginning with a hard hit, the deluge of flooding and that dark quote, you are taken back to the event, and by intercutting with current interviews, a full picture emerges.

An aerial view of a broken levee after Hurricane Katrina. (Pond5)

The people are the key elements and what it did to their lives, even to this day.

When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Malik Rahim was a West Bank, an Algiers Point resident. He recounts his experience while being interviewed for the production of National Geographic’s Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time. With emotional accounts of survivors and immersive archival footage, the series reveals Hurricane Katrina as a disaster that was anything but natural. (National Geographic)

A deep-rooted culture, globally famous, became shattered.

The editing is sharp. The pacing is thoughtful. You’re not just watching a timeline — you’re being drawn into the experience.
And they do something smart: mixing present-day interviews with past footage to give you a full, nuanced view. It’s not sugarcoated, and it doesn’t let you look away.
This isn’t just a story about a flood. It’s about people. A culture. A city that the world knew for its joy and celebration, suddenly fighting for survival.
Mardi Gras still happens, sure — but it’s forever changed. And this series helps you understand why.
It even closes with a look at how Katrina’s impact continues to ripple through the lives of the people who lived it — the ones who carry the memory, every single day.
Mardi Gras goes on, but the history of that event is forever changed.

Kevin Goodman, Chief of The Mardi Gras

To relate this to the current Texas flood in the news, is not a huge leap, although the latest is nowhere near the scale of Hurricane Katrina.

This is about preparedness. Warnings. And how we choose to tell the human stories that follow.
Highly recommend giving this one your full attention. It’s more than a doc — it’s a wake-up call.