FOX Weather, FOX News Media’s free ad-supported streaming television service, will debut a four-part documentary to mark the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina entitled Hurricane HQ: Katrina’s Wrath 20 Years Later.
Starting August 25th, the weather service will air a new episode at 8:30PM/ET each evening featuring renowned FOX Weather hurricane specialist Bryan Norcross, correspondent Robert Ray and FOX News senior meteorologist Janice Dean as they reflect on the storm two decades later. Presenting interviews with city officials, meteorologists and survivors, the docuseries will also spotlight first-hand accounts of the disastrous storm, the fight to rebuild the city and the fortifications now guarding New Orleans.
With over 50 years of experience as a hurricane specialist, Norcross is a highly respected meteorologist who has been credited in part with helping shape the modern hurricane cone. He has covered thousands of hurricanes over the course of his tenure and more recently, was asked by Google to help create a new AI-based model to help with hurricane forecasting.
As a breaking news correspondent, Ray has covered dozens of hurricanes and in 2005, traveled the path of Hurricane Katrina throughout the Gulf Coast for HD News, while Dean covered the storm from FOX News Channel’s then weather center in New York.
**Please see below for episodic details:
**Please see below for episodic details:
🌪Episode 1 – “The Storm Breaks” – Early on the morning of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, but the storm was just the start of a catastrophe.
FOX Weather’s Bryan Norcross and Robert Ray add historical insight, walking through the levee-failure timeline and the decisions that turned a rising storm into a full-scale urban disaster. Additionally, former New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Eddie Compass recalls how rescue requests flooded the police radio network while streets became impassable, prompting officers to commandeer boats and pull residents from inundated homes and rooftops. Editor James Karst explains how The Times-Picayune debunked exaggerated reports of post-Katrina lawlessness, a truth-finding effort that later earned the newsroom a Pulitzer Prize.
🌪Episode 2 – “The Struggle” – Widespread floods were just the beginning of what would become a week’s long nightmare for first responders and Americans fighting for survival.
FOX News senior meteorologist Janice Dean looks back on Hurricane Katrina as one of the first major weather disasters she covered for the network, reflecting on how those images still shape her work today. The episode features Nurse Cyntrel Janeau as she recalls delivering newborns by flashlight inside Charity Hospital after generators failed, improvising care in sweltering, powerless wards. In the French Quarter, Marita Crandle speaks about the legendary Johnny White’s, which stayed open through Katrina and the aftermath, turning the bar into the place where residents swapped the real local news of what was happening just outside their doors.
🌪Episode 3 – “The Experts” – A discussion about lessons learned on forecasting and infrastructure for the future.
FOX Weather’s Bryan Norcross and Robert Ray are joined by Bob Breck, the trusted local forecaster who suddenly found himself literally in the center of the storm and not just reporting on it. United States Army Corps engineer René Poché details the $14.5 billion protection ring now surrounding New Orleans, while Max Mayfield, former Director of the National Hurricane Center places those upgrades in a broader national context.
🌪Episode 4 – “20 Years Forward” – Reflections on rebuilding New Orleans, and what the future holds for The Big Easy.
Norcross, Ray and Dean reflect on the storm 20 years later, highlighting the resilience of New Orleans natives, celebrating how far the city has come and what lies ahead. Additionally, Levees.org founder Sandy Rosenthal walks viewers through her Flooded House Museum, a meticulous recreation of a post-Katrina living room that preserves the storm’s human scale.
FOX Weather’s Bryan Norcross and Robert Ray add historical insight, walking through the levee-failure timeline and the decisions that turned a rising storm into a full-scale urban disaster. Additionally, former New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Eddie Compass recalls how rescue requests flooded the police radio network while streets became impassable, prompting officers to commandeer boats and pull residents from inundated homes and rooftops. Editor James Karst explains how The Times-Picayune debunked exaggerated reports of post-Katrina lawlessness, a truth-finding effort that later earned the newsroom a Pulitzer Prize.
🌪Episode 2 – “The Struggle” – Widespread floods were just the beginning of what would become a week’s long nightmare for first responders and Americans fighting for survival.
FOX News senior meteorologist Janice Dean looks back on Hurricane Katrina as one of the first major weather disasters she covered for the network, reflecting on how those images still shape her work today. The episode features Nurse Cyntrel Janeau as she recalls delivering newborns by flashlight inside Charity Hospital after generators failed, improvising care in sweltering, powerless wards. In the French Quarter, Marita Crandle speaks about the legendary Johnny White’s, which stayed open through Katrina and the aftermath, turning the bar into the place where residents swapped the real local news of what was happening just outside their doors.
🌪Episode 3 – “The Experts” – A discussion about lessons learned on forecasting and infrastructure for the future.
FOX Weather’s Bryan Norcross and Robert Ray are joined by Bob Breck, the trusted local forecaster who suddenly found himself literally in the center of the storm and not just reporting on it. United States Army Corps engineer René Poché details the $14.5 billion protection ring now surrounding New Orleans, while Max Mayfield, former Director of the National Hurricane Center places those upgrades in a broader national context.
🌪Episode 4 – “20 Years Forward” – Reflections on rebuilding New Orleans, and what the future holds for The Big Easy.
Norcross, Ray and Dean reflect on the storm 20 years later, highlighting the resilience of New Orleans natives, celebrating how far the city has come and what lies ahead. Additionally, Levees.org founder Sandy Rosenthal walks viewers through her Flooded House Museum, a meticulous recreation of a post-Katrina living room that preserves the storm’s human scale.