A host of never-before-aired Katrina video will be included in special programming airing on BTV today, Thursday and Friday to mark the 14th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which decimated Biloxi and the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005.
The city’s award-winning “Katrina & Biloxi,” its follow-up “Katrina +10,” and “RU Ready,” the city’s storm-preparedness presentation, will highlight the programming, but viewers also will see the first airing of a time lapse of the storm surge at City Hall; the story of the “Luna Sea,” a steel-hulled vessel that navigated Katrina’s storm surge through the Hard Rock parking garage before landing on Lameuse Street; and a contingent of servicemen landing on east beach in Biloxi in the weeks after the storm.
Also included each day will be a Mississippi Public Broadcasting segment on sculptor Marlin Miller, who played a major role in the Katrina sculpture trail along U.S. 90; and then-Mayor A.J. Holloway’s greatest speech, delivered to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in January 2006, just five months after the storm.
Here’s a look at the schedule of programming through Friday: (regular programming resumes Saturday)
7 a.m. and 7 p.m.: “Katrina & Biloxi: A Story of Resolve & Resilience.”
8 a.m. and 8 p.m.: “Katrina +10,” a Coastwide look back at Katrina at the 10-year point, in 2015.
9 a.m. and 9 p.m.: A host of video vignettes, edited by videographer Renny Sherman. In order of appearance: the Katrina storm surge, Mayor Holloway from City Hall on the afternoon of the storm; hovercraft landing on east beach, the “Luna Sea” on Lameuse Street, the implosion of the Grand Biloxi hotel, the demolition of the public library across from City Hall, Reviving the Renaissance presentation, Mayor Holloway’s address to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the story of sculptor Marlin Miller and the Katrina sculpture trail.
10 a.m. and 10 p.m.: “Katrina & Biloxi: A Story of Resolve & Resilience.”
11 a.m. and 11 p.m.: “Katrina +10.”
Noon and 4 p.m.: Katrina one-year anniversary memorial.
1:16 p.m. and 5:10 p.m.: Katrina 2011 memorial observance, which includes the Ronny Broussard-penned opus “I Wanna Come Home.”
1:46 p.m. and 5:44 p.m.: “RU Ready?” A host of local authorities provide helpful information on preparing for a storm in this hour-long presentation.
BTV is available in Biloxi on Sparklight Channel 56, on Uverse Channel 99 (follow the prompts) and streaming online at click here.