What is Katrina: Come Hell and High Water all about? Everything you need to know before you tune in

Katrina: Come Hell and High Water is a three-part docuseries that premiered on August 27, 2025, on Netflix. It is directed by Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles, and Spike Lee. Gandbhir, Lee, and Sam Pollard serve as the executive producers, while Alisa Payne has produced the docuseries.

This docuseries revisits the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina 20 years after the storm tore through the city of New Orleans in the summer of 2005.

As per Netflix, the official synopsis of the docuseries reads:

"With firsthand accounts and never-before-seen footage, this series explores the horror of Hurricane Katrina and its impact on New Orleans 20 years later."

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Katrina: Come Hell and High Water examines one of the deadliest natural disasters in US history

Katrina: Come Hell and High Water comprises three episodes that range between 62 and 88 minutes in runtime. The first episode, WE GONNA RIDE IT OUT LIKE WE ALWAYS DO, is directed by Geeta Gandbhir, while Samantha Knowles directs the second episode, SHELTER OF LAST RESORT. The final and longest episode, GOD TAKES CARE OF FOOLS AND BABIES, is helmed by the Oscar-winning filmmaker Spike Lee.

For the unversed, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in late August 2005 and flooded almost 80% of New Orleans, with some areas submerged under 20 feet of water. The historic storm caused unprecedented destruction in the city and claimed the lives of around 1,400 people, as per CBS News. The storm also caused property damage worth billions of dollars across the Gulf Coast, as well as displaced more than a million people.

In an article published on August 28, 2025, showrunner Alisa Payne told Netflix Tudum that the story of Hurricane Katrina remains "relevant" even in the present day.

"Twenty years later, at this moment in our history, this series feels even more urgent and relevant. It will not only inform those who know little about Katrina and the aftermath for New Orleans, but will provide new revelations to those who think they know this story and this country," she said.

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Who appears in Katrina: Come Hell and High Water?

A still from the Netflix documentary (Image via Netflix Tudum)

Katrina: Come Hell and High Water features testaments from the residents of New Orleans who survived Hurricane Katrina, especially from hard-hit areas like Bywater and the Lower Ninth Ward. Among the interviewees are director Kimberly Rivers Roberts, producer Shelton "Shakespear" Alexander, jazz musician Mervin "Kid Merv" Campbell, journalist Katy Reckdahl, and Leanne Williams, who was 14 years old in 2005.

Gralen Banks, another resident of New Orleans, discusses sheltering 5,000 people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where he served as director of safety and loss prevention during Hurricane Katrina. The docuseries also includes interviews with local, state, and federal officials, journalists, and experts who shed light on the devastation caused and the failure in appropriate rescue efforts.

Journalist and former CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien also offers her first-hand account of reporting on the hurricane, along with the city's former mayors, Marc H. Morial and Mitch Landrieu. Additionally, it features an interview from the retired Lieutenant General of the US Army, Russel L. Honoré. He led the Department of Defense and FEMA's Joint Task Force Katrina.

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Watch all three episodes of Katrina: Come Hell and High Water now streaming only on Netflix.