On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. The city was not prepared for what was going to happen after she hit. As we know, the levees broke, and the city was flooded, stranding her citizens.
Not only was the city unprepared, but so was one of its hospitals. Apple TV+ is the story of the hellish Five Days at Memorial Hospital went through and the gut-wrenching decisions they had to make.
During the first night, they remained relatively calm as Katrina huffed and puffed. It looked like they made it through the worst of it. And then the power went out. Luckily they had a generator and got it back on.
Unfortunately, the air conditioning was not on the generator and stopped working in the heat. That was the beginning of their troubles.
As the days went out, the generator ran out of gas, and they struggled to keep patients alive. In fact, they started losing them due to the heat, lack of food and water, and no electricity. Not only that, the plumbing stopped working.
They had very little contact with the outside world. Even if they had more, it wouldn’t have helped. No one knew what they were doing. They tried to get the owners of the hospital to rescue them, but their calls were literally ignored.
They were surrounded by water and had no way out. No one was coming for them. The critically ill patients who were part of LifeCare Hospitals of New Orleans were getting sicker and sicker.
The head doctor was trying to decide what to do with the pets if they were ever rescued. She decided that they could not go with them, so it was suggested that they be euthanized rather than being left to die.
Finally, on day five, they were told they were going to evacuate everyone at the hospital, but they only had a few hours to do so. The decision was made that those who were the sickest were not healthy enough to go with them. Therefore, they would be left behind. That is when six bodies became 45.
Not over time, but in the hours before, the hospital would be deserted. Were they murdered? That is the question that the final three episodes ask. It is a story that hasn’t been told like this until now and needs to be shared.
What everyone in that hospital went through was horrifying. The decisions that were made make you wonder what you would have done. Would you have saved them? Let them die? Or save them from going through hell alone as they waited to die, abandoned by the people who were supposed to be there for them?
I still don’t know what I would’ve done. And I pray no one ever has to make those decisions again.
You will be left feeling this way after every episode. The first five episodes each take place over one day, from the day of the hurricane until the day they are evacuated. The fifth episode will leave you heartbroken and in tears. It has Emmys written all over it.
The final three episodes focus on the investigation into the 45 deaths and what and who went wrong. Personally, I think they went after the wrong person. But you will understand what I mean when you watch it.
Five Days at Memorial is exceptionally well done. You feel as though you are the fly in the room, watching the unimaginable horrors that they went through. You can feel their desperation and exhaustion. But thankfully, you can’t smell it.
Because of that, Apple TV+ tells the story as it should’ve been told. We cannot let history repeat itself. And hopefully, this will guarantee that it never does.
The limited series event stars Vera Farmiga, Robert Pine, Cherry Jones, Julie Ann Emery, Cornelius Smith Jr., Adepero Oduye, Michael Gaston, Molly Hager, Jeffrey Nordling, and Damon Standifer.
The first episode is streaming now, and a new episode will debut every Friday.
