Hurricane Katrina Commemorative Collection

On August 28, an early Sunday morning, America woke up to a shocking surprise. Katrina, a moderate "category one" hurricane that recently skirted Florida, had blown up and had become into a "category five" killer and it was headed straight for New Orleans. Join National Geographic as we survey the vast devastation after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005.

Hurricane Katrina may well be the most exhaustively chronicled natural disaster in history. Over the course of 72 hours, a cataclysmic storm became a catastrophic flood, which in turn became an apocalyptic human tragedy. All the while, amateur videographers, news crews, government agencies, tourists, storm chasers, and countless others were recording the sights and sounds of the unfolding chaos. Weaving together more than a hundred of these sources, Witness: Katrina reconstructs Hurricane Katrina as it happened, entirely through the eyes of those who experienced it. From Biloxi to Bay St. Louis, from Slidell to the Superdome, this 90-minute special captures the storm and its aftermath in all its epic human complexity - raw images of fear, grief, and anger, side by side with unforgettable moments of humor, grace, and joy. Timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the storm, Witness: Katrina is both a riveting documentary and an enduring document - the portrait of a defining moment in American history.