www.hurricaneonthebayou.com
Hurricane on the Bayou is an informative IMAX film and had a message to convey to its audience-Save the Wetlands. Produced and executive produced by Greg MacGillivary and Audubon Nature Institute, respectively. This project began to educate people of all ages about the importance of saving the wetlands because of the protection barrier they provide from the powerful hurricanes of the Gulf Coast. While they were filming, the surveillance message from the media warned of the impending hurricane, and forced the crew to rethink the direction of the film.
In the past 50 years the wetlands have eroded dramatically and must be replenished to be the first line of defense against future hurricane storm surges that cause the sea level to rise or as in the case of Katrina breech levees. It is predicted that without rebuilding the wetlands, the Gulf of Mexico will move 30 miles inland by the year 2050.
A pivotal moment in the film was during the footage of the devastation after the flooding began-“communication was dead,” there was no help coming and it showed neighbors rescuing neighbors from roof tops. This portrayed the impact of the loss of communication on the people who remained in their homes after the flooding began.
The project successfully communicated the message using influential musicians, respecting Louisiana’s history of jazz and blues. Through the side stories of music and devastation the message was clear “this kind of flooding is preventable in the future if we all work together to restore the marshes.”
I knew that I had to see this movie, while I’m researching communication failures during Hurricane Katrina. I realized during my research that I don’t have many visual images in my mind because I didn’t own a television at the time of the hurricane. All of my news came passed on by friends and coworkers loaded with their own interpretations.
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3 comments:
I have not seen the film but I can only imagine how the people who survied Hurrican Katrina must have went through. You stated that neighbors were helping eachother from the roof tops, that was really nice of people to do so. I do hope that one day people will come together more then only in a time of need. For people need friends and to know that people are their for them through the tuff times and the good times.
This is the first time I have heard anything about wetland damage and the hefty consequences of wetland erosion. I'm glad started this post because I think it's important for people to realize how important our environment is. To me it sounds like the wetlands are a natural defense system that can be extremely beneficial to us if we take care of them. Ignoring the problem will not make it go away and if we don't start making improvements to them, it will change the face of this earth (30 miles is not just a little bit!).
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