It’s been nearly 20 years since Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast, but the scars, emotional, political, and structural, have never fully healed. Now, as the anniversary of one of America’s most catastrophic natural disasters approaches, a new five-part docuseries is reopening the floodgates.
Produced by Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media in partnership with Lightbox, HURRICANE KATRINA: RACE AGAINST TIME premieres July 27 on National Geographic, with episodes dropping on Disney+ and Hulu the following day. And from what we’ve seen in the trailer, this isn’t just another disaster doc. It’s a full-on reckoning.
“This series goes beyond the headlines,” said executive producers Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, and Sev Ohanian. “It reveals stories of survival, heroism and resilience. It’s a vital historical record and a call to witness, remember and reckon with the truth of Hurricane Katrina’s legacy.”
And if anyone knows how to tell the truth with cinematic depth and urgency, it’s Coogler. From Fruitvale Station to Judas and the Black Messiah to Black Panther, his work has always lived at the intersection of power, pain, and purpose.
Teaming up with award-winning documentarians Jonathan and Simon Chinn (LA 92, Tina, Whitney), the series will dive far deeper than the usual narrative.
This is Katrina told by the people who lived it.
Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Traci A. Curry (Attica), Race Against Time unfolds through the eyes and voices of New Orleans residents, first responders, and officials who survived the storm and its disastrous aftermath. The series isn’t just interested in what happened; it’s focused on why it happened, who was left behind, and what Katrina revealed about America.
This story is just as much about systems as it is about the storm.
“This is far more than a story about a storm,” said Lightbox’s Jonathan and Simon Chinn. “It’s a compelling, essential reexamination of systemic failure and the enduring consequences of decisions made before, during and after the levees broke.”
With powerful archival footage, emotional first-person testimonies, and a raw, unflinching narrative arc, each episode of Race Against Time zeroes in on a different chapter of the crisis, from the chaotic buildup to the failures of leadership, to the militarization of the response and the long-term displacement of Black communities.
Episodes like Shoot to Kill explore the dark underbelly of the post-storm response, where law enforcement and militias turned on residents under the false guise of restoring order. Others, like Wake Up Call, highlight the heartbreak of the Katrina diaspora, as entire communities were pushed out of the city they once called home.
Catch the first three episodes on National Geographic starting July 27, with the full series available on Disney+ and Hulu on July 28. This is must-watch TV — not just for what it says about the past, but for what it demands of the future.
Check out the trailer.
