Pre - Trip "When the Levees Broke"

The film shows citizens dealing with different disasters, devastation and disease. Spike Lee the director states, “New Orleans is fighting for its life. These are not people who will disappear quietly — they're accustomed to hardship and slights, and they'll fight for New Orleans.

Although Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city, many people refused to leave, which a CNN writer described as "gambling with their own lives." Reasons were numerous, including a belief that their homes or the buildings in which they planned to stay offered sufficient protection, lack of financial resources or access to transportation, and a feeling of obligation to protect their property. These reasons were complicated by the fact that an evacuation the previous year for Hurricane Ivan had resulted in the illnesses of many elderly people since cars were stalled in traffic for six to ten hours. The fact that Katrina occurred at the end of the month, before pay checks were in the hands of many, was also significant.
More in depth, the main reasons why people did not evacuate during Katrina is because they did not have anywhere to go. From the elderly to the poor, Katrina had a big impact. It is hard to just get up, have to evacuate, and leave everything behind. It is also hard when you have to evacuate when there are no means of transportation, and no way of knowing where you are going. Not everyone owned a car. In a society such as New Orleans, the majority of the residents did not know what was outside of New Orleans. They did not want to take that risk, and felt that staying in one place would help them get out of the situation. Second, Citizens were sure if they can survive Hurricane Betsy, Hurricane Katrina will not be a problem. Hurricane Betsy took place during the 1965 Atlantic hurricane season. Betsy caused damage in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. “Betsy made its most intense landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River, causing significant flooding of the waters of Lake Pontchartrain into New Orleans.”

During the hurricane, residents did not really have any say. They just went with the flow of traffic. While they were being rescued, people felt as if they were treated unjust. They were given orders, told not to talk, and took to places they did not know. All of these effects have to do with the social class that these victims were in. Pushing everyone in the airplane and separating mothers from children is not right. Families were separated, and till this day now, some people do not know where their family is at. They could be dead, they could be living on the other side of town, no one knows just because of their lack of power.

Our society needs to step out of the box, and see that there is more to life than what the media projects.

Richard Osei