The Dark History of New Orleans Prison

[@mirandadejong374]

You’ve changed my life I have a niece that is on drugs and you have taught me how to support her without being an enabler thank you very much

[@morigahn]

Heartwarming comment ❤️ I have a family member I support in the same way, they know idc if they do certain things (the green) but relapse on H, I have to say something, and they're a decade plus doing great, wishing your niece the best, you're a great aunt and it's hard but you're strong, keep it up!

[@mirandadejong374]

@@morigahn Thank you so much that means a lot to me. It’s hard but I’m doing the best I can. I hate that the rest of my family has given up on her,But I will never give up. Good luck with your family member as well your more then welcome to reach out to me if you ever need someone to talk to!

[@donttread5801]

@@mirandadejong374 NEVER give up. I am 3 years clean from h and I lost everything material wise but thankfully my mom had my kids. Well I went to jail for a year and I was able to get away from the needing to get well feeling and got on medication that helps me. I have no desire anymore to ever go back to that lifestyle. I am now raising my granddaughter that's almost 2 and I'm doing wonderful. Please don't give up on her because if my family would have given up I wouldn't be where I am today. God bless you and hug her and never stop loving her ❤

[@kimberlykirgis5391]

My sis is on drugs and she just had a baby who is now my adopt brother

[@2863wonderland]

What a thoughtful comment. ♥️

[@sarahstroud6021]

I was a correctional officer for 12 years at a horrible and corrupt prison! Thank God I got out and they closed it down! I’m now a registered nurse and I love my job!

[@carlyjoy17]

I can't believe they shot at the inmates that were trying to get out of the windows after they were literally abandoned. What the heck else do you expect a person to do? Inmates are still people, totally a valid and explainably reasonable reaction.

[@kimberlykirgis5391]

Yea theh did wrong but theh are still people

[@kimberlykirgis5391]

They*

[@abbeyawesome1012]

They should have relocated to move them to another prisions out of state

[@gemmajanning4567]

I think what is even more gross and disgusting than that is the fact that guards were actively watching the prison and not doing anything for the inmates.

[@kimberlykirgis5391]

@@gemmajanning4567 EXACTLY

[@rangerwill]

I was in prison during hurricanes Irma and Maria. We DEMANDED that guards leave our cells unlocked while the hurricanes passed. When the water started coming in our cells we woke up and began sweeping it out the doors. The prison supt came by early the next morning to check on us. Everyone was fine. But we did have an incident where two guys escaped over the prison fence and went home to check on their families. And just as soon as the guards began organizing to search for them, they turned themselves back in.

[@Dippedinsilver1974]

That's barbaric. I don't care what those people did to go to prison (or jail, or juvy), NO ONE deserves to be treated like that. That sounds like absolute hell. I was a social worker for over 20 years, and I heard so many awful stories from former inmates. Anyway, the way we treat inmates in this country is disgusting. Thank you for all the work you do.

[@katem3147]

This is such an unfortunate but incredible story. It should seriously be a documentary! When you talk about inmates packed together and then locked in...just like you said, absolutely horrific. Such a tragic story but a great video that shines light on things happening in our criminal justice system and how we treat eachother. ☮️

[@user-dt3rc9yt1t]

I actually felt claustrophobic as she described it. What a tragedy

[@francisebbecke2727]

A friend of mine was a corrections officer in Angola prison in Louisiana during Katrina. Her and some other correction officers took some buses to New Orleans jails and transported them to Angola. Angola is not anybody's version to a great place to go to prison, but when you are stuck in a jail cell in New Orleans with the water rising Angola doesn't sound so bad.

[@kristenmorris9106]

Look up the bloody angola podcast. Its crazy. They go into the history

[@trutee9634]

Was there dead bodies? What happened to all the missing people? Were they dead? Did they escape? What happened? That's bs

[@noellekacerek3281]

Absolutely unacceptable and unimaginable, thank you for exploring this in detail, Jessica!

[@Mel.H_]

This is so unimaginable. Thank you for covering this Jess, more people need to know!

[@NikkiPhillippi]

I love hearing your perspective and stories. Thank you for this. Great as usual🙏🏻

[@One_nJen]

JESS! This is an amazing series! I don't know if it's your soothing and reasonable voice, words, or what, but I truly want to get behind you with fighting for prison reform.. and I'm proud former law enforcement in Central Texas where there can be a much "narrower" frame of thinking. I'm from Arizona, though, Maricopa County, and I would LOVE a deep dive into Tent City and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. I'm sure it's on your list what with inmates wearing pink underwear living in tents where the temperatures during the summer reach over 120° F, and the only female chain gangs in the US were implemented. I don't think anyone could do it justice better than you, but please!! Deep Dive? 🙏 ❤️

[@scotthetland2164]

Her voice is so relaxing. I cant imagine jess being such a bad ass. She is so tiny i wouldnt want to.piss her off

[@One_nJen]

@@scotthetland2164 Agreed! However, I'd *definitely* want to take her with me if I wanted to piss someone ELSE off. She'd be an awesome bodyguard.. nobody would see her coming lol

[@MirandaLaRuee699]

YES!!! I’m a native Arizonan (Born and raised ) & currently live in chandler !!!! I’ve never been in trouble but my husband has been to prison and the system here makes me sick. He almost died, and I wasn’t even informed. The only way I found out was by checking the department of corrections website & seeing that his “status” was out to hospital 🏥. I FREAKED OUT !!! I ended up getting to talk to him but that was only AFTER threatening to sue, and having my attorney relay that message to Alhambra jail facility. Oh, and of course by the grace of god he woke up ..

[@One_nJen]

@@MirandaLaRuee699 Thank God he woke up. Its sucks he's all the way in Alhambra.. I just hope he wasn't in 4th Ave for long, or at all. I've never been in trouble either.. a friend here and there for 3 days in tent city, but I give a lot of shits about prison reform because I'm passionate about the law and justice, and I worked in law enforcement and saw how good the good ones can be; cops, administrators, judges, etc.. but I also saw how bad the bad ones are and I refuse to accept that things such as these will be allowed to continue. My brother is a successful grower, but he taught himself and perfected his craft over 10 years (he also lived in chandler, I did, too!) and as you know, recreational cannabis was only legalized in the Nov 2020 election. He had to cover his ass, and sadly, the wrong person found out, showed up at his house under the guise of something else, and the guy came in with another male and female and held my brother, his wife, and my nephew at gunpoint for hours while going through all of his things taking what they wanted, and pistol whipping him. My brother buys his wife a new Coach bag and something diamond every year, and the men were going to take her bags and jewelry, and shockingly, the girl that was with them convinced them to leave her things. I don't think she knew what was going to happen. Anyway, that was in 2017.. the guy threatened to come back every 3 months after my brother's harvests to take what my brother's partner allegedly owed him. What's he gonna do, call the law? He decided it was time to go legit and moved to Oregon. I know Chandler police.. they're not too bad, but the county sheriff's department? Hang it up. I hope the replacement sheriff is doing better. I know he closed tent city, but the female chain gangs are still running.. there's still so much to repair after Sheriff Joe. I can't believe that pos was pardoned. I hope your husband is doing better than he was..

[@kathy3178]

I agree wholeheartedly with you. No one deserved to be treated like that. I lived in Lousiana during Katrina. They had enough warning and time to get everyone out. New Orleans has what is called a contra flow plan where both lanes of the interstates and bridges that go into the city become one way headed out of the city. The mayor and govenor were to blame for the shit show. All they did was fight over who was responsible for ordering evacuations. There was school buses that flooded because they city refused them. The prisoners could have been moved safely to other prisons. Angola did it a few years when the Mississippi River tried to breach the levees. If New Orleans politicians would quit stuffing their pockets and spend the money to properly fix the levee system the city would not have flooded like that.

[@MelissaTomlinsonPrincessLissa]

I live about an hour from New Orleans and this was tragic. My son was born on August 2. He was 27 days old. We were fortunate enough to have a camper AND our house even without power so we had room for family to come but i could not imagine what these people went thru. The panic and the wondering of what’s to come. And the heat….geez the heat is enough to drive someone crazy. I hope all these people and their traumatic experience have gotten the help they need, to deal with this.

[@bobmooney9149]

a buddy of mine was there right after it was over, power line worker i think he was, he kept telling us about finding bodys all over the place. stuck ln fences or in basements. bodys everywhere. dude wound up gettin therapy after that job was over.

[@Rtytanicj]

This entire situation is horrific!!! This video was amazing girl! Keep ‘em coming! Ily! 💜

[@Mel.H_]

Hi Jorie! I'm not sure if anyone else caught this but Jess left in a very tiny clip of her in a black gown at the very beginning, like right before the intro. Doubt she meant to and she doesn't check her DMs LOL

[@ramblinalirose]

I say this almost every time I comment. But I'm so grateful to exist on this planet as the same time as you Jess. Your delivery is so solid. Thank you for speaking up and being you. I hope life gets better for all of us sooner than later.

[@bratalie9227]

Please keep this going Jess!! And thank you for speaking up!♥️✌🏼

[@debbiepotter4592]

When I was homeless a few years ago, I learned the hard way to just plead guilty. It was never anything serious, basically just for being homeless it what it boiled down to. But not being able to make bail, you could sit in jail for months before trial. And there were times I definitely could have had the charges dropped, as they were actually just stupid. So after once of being in for a couple of weeks after pleading innocent I just went with guilty and took the fines.

[@gemmajanning4567]

I would say I can’t believe how we treat people of, “not so wealthy” status in this country, but that sad thing is, I do believe it. And I expect it. And I think a lot of people do too. Someday, and I’m sure a lot of people say this with no intent of helping to change things, but someday, things will change, and I hope to help change something. Even if it is a little thing, but I hope to help, and I want to help. Someday….

[@ayejay4028]

I did that,and now i cant get a job years later

[@melindat5274]

I lived through this, she didn't even scratch the surface of how horrible this was!

[@kristinachandler3403]

I went to New Orleans about a year after to build houses for habitat for humanity and the devastation was so much. I was like 17 at the time and didn't think about those poor inmates. This breaks my heart I remember seeing houses with a big x on them each part of the x had letters. TFW was toxic flood water, then the numer of bodies or animals they found in the rest. It was truly an eye opener to what these ppl went through.

[@lenorahummell1580]

That's awesome, I remember suggesting this video in the comments about 4months ago. Idk if you saw it, but happy that you are covering this. People really need to know about this and be appalled by this

[@kelevrahodds6920]

not really new BUT happy to see you doing more content, One Love!

[@girlonfire8855]

For all of those people who say "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime" BS... I guarantee that they are technically breaking the law daily without a second thought. People go to jail (not prison) all the damn time for traffic violations, especially if they can't afford the ticket, or forget to pay the ticket. I moved from a state where I had to license my dog every year, I did all of the right stuff, had my mail forwarded. TWO YEARS LATER, I'm living several states away, my dog had since died, and I get a bunch of old mail that hadn't been forwarded, one was a letter from the court stating that they had issued a bench warrant for my arrest over a DOG LICENSE for a dog who had died in a state in which I no longer resided! Had I gone back to visit my home state and been pulled over for some reason, I would have been arrested for a mistake that I had nothing to do with. I've since had it straightened out, but it cost me time and money. It was ridiculous! Of course there were many dangerous inmates in that prison, but some of the people in that prison/jail, were there on unpaid fines (one was a $70 fine!), traffic violations, Jay-walking, obstructing the sidewalk.. ridiculous things that nobody should ever go to jail for. And absolutely NO ONE should ever be put in that situation for regardless of their crime (ehhh, except maybe the ones who do horrific things to kids. But that's my personal opinion).

[@Miisol]

As always, concise research and compassionate delivery Jessica. Thank you for continuing your mission in educating the public.

[@NOODLES8761]

Its so dope I found a channel that supports people, not just a numbers!!

[@ChelseaLynnThibodeaux]

Im from the New Orleans area I was in 9th grade when Katrina hit and we lost everything. I live in Slidell 20 minutes away I still have PTSD from it.

[@AbsolutelyNot86]

Yes! I loved this episode! Going to check out the other two and also look forward to seeing more.

[@ChelseaLynnThibodeaux]

My daughters father is serving life in Angola & yes you're saying it correctly. The civilians were also shooting at national guard helicopters.

[@jaynarobinson4225]

Yes my mom was a nurse in Kenner and they were going to heliport patients from downtown to up north and they were shooting at the helicopters going to save patients. So they turned around and aborted that plan

[@desireedominguez3431]

I’m from the New Orleans area and evacuated for Katrina. We came back after a couple of days and were out of power for over a month. I remember hearing about the inmates on the radio. And the hospitals! It was so so sad and everyone was helpless. Thanks for this video-hopefully it sheds a little light on prison reform so we can prevent something like this from happening in the future. 🖤

[@brittanym70yearsago70]

Louisiana born & raised... I'll never forget the horror of being 15 dealing with the hell we had gone thru during Katrina and Rita. So I can't even imagine the things inmates and others had to go thru.

[@jaideywaidey]

Hey👋🏻 I discovered your TikTok and channel a week or two ago and have learned so much about how corrupt the system is. I knew things were bad but not as bad as you’ve said. On a lighter note, it would be so cool if you made more prison recipes and show us things you made with what you had!

[@DubsTV93]

*MY PARENTS WORKED IN NEW ORLEANS AS POLICE OFFICERS DURING KATRINA.* My mom was a sergeant for Crescent City Connection at the time, the HUGE bridge in NO everyone crosses to leave/get in the city. They can tell you some horrible stories. My parents sent us off with family members and stayed, we were separated for MONTHS without word.

[@elliefihlman9290]

I’m from New Orleans and there when Katrina hit. And the fact that the prisoners were told to stay there was hart breaking.

[@sheriffflynn]

I like this series. Everything you mention itches my brain and makes me explore more about the prison system.

[@kikomartin-pr]

Very informative. Thank you for sharing. So heartbreaking.

[@beccamullikin1366]

Thank you for covering this. I remember when this happened. I don’t remember of the news talking about the prison during the hurricane! (I did have a newborn and 2 yr old during this). This is so enlightening! Please keep doing these

[@bigk8210]

With all you know about prison culture, prison history, etc. Have you ever considered taking a trip to San Francisco, touring and profiling Alcatraz? It's one of my favorite historical topics and I think you would be fascinated greatly by it. 😊

[@bonniehowell9206]

That was such a scary time and difficult to watch the ongoing news coverage. I lived in Key West during that time and remember Katrina first being a tropical storm that hit Miami, went across the state of Florida, sat on Key West for hours flooding the island, and then growing into the monster going straight for New Orleans. I couldn't imagine how terrifying it would be knowing you were trapped there, not knowing if your loved ones were safe, and feeling you were abandoned. Terrifying

[@melanieanne5285]

Great video. I remember hurricane Katrina and I never thought about this part. So sad.

[@debrandw246]

Thank you so much for bring this out. This is horrible. Bless you

[@user-dt3rc9yt1t]

This is an amazing video Jess. It really speaks to how inmates are treated like worthless property. Thank you for sharing.

[@tammieparrishmiller3669]

That meant fear of drowning, no food, and no idea when food would be coming!This is heartbreaking! I've had loved ones in prison and it broke my heart to begin with and then if I knew my loved one was facing this, I think my head would explode!

[@beachgirl6305]

Oh, I'm so glad you're shedding some lite on this!!

[@amandawalski4407]

Jesus! Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I had no idea about this horrific incident! I love you! ❤❤❤

[@meraki4324]

I love this series. Keep them coming ❤️

[@Mrs.Baker8198]

I cannot even begin to wrap my mind around this! And nobody is held accountable is sick. This should make everyone livid!

[@kellilaviolette7621]

I live in Louisiana, and everyone thinks New Orleans is so glorious when it really is so sad because there is so much history that is so sad like this prison. There is stuff everywhere and people still are homeless because of hurricane Katrina as well.

[@chelseapthib36]

Yes ma'am! New Orleans is one of the most culturally and historically rich cities in our beautiful state... but it's gone to shit! Do right by people, let us live our Creole and Cajun Heritage. I've always thought that prisons everywhere need to change.

[@ChelseaLynnThibodeaux]

I live in Slidell and work in New Orleans, it really is heart breaking because it's an amazing city with amazing people but no shortage of problems.

[@laurak2971]

Jess this information is so important.

[@albin2232]

I love what you do Jess. I've learned so much from you. Thanks very much

[@terahoppe733]

I have PTSD and that was something I had major anxiety over while in jail was, What if we have a natural disaster what happens to us. So that is absolutely terrifying that they just locked them up and left them 😳 I cannot imagine.

[@timhackman9488]

Wow this had my head thinking so hard. I never thought about these people who went through that in the prison system. Thank you Jess for covering this I love your videos

[@marianneswenson7169]

I agree with you 110%! Inmates do have rights and this story hit my heart full on, I had no idea. NOBODY should have to experience this for ANY reason. Thanks for all you do

[@natashaw401]

Thank you for sharing doing this. Really like talking about and knowing diff types of prison and just realize sad how inhumane people treated

[@lynnamandernacht2211]

Thank you Jessica and you are much appreciated 👍👍 last summer I was in county jail during the fires in Northern California. They were evacuating some of the surrounding communities and at the jail the nurses and guards were packing up all the inmates stuff and they had planned to evacuate Us by bus if necessary. However they didn't keep us informed and we weren't allowed to go out in the yard because they said it was too smoky. It was kind of scary but it is very good incentive to stay out of trouble right now in this troubled crazy world because nobody wants to be in the pokey when it hits the fan. Again thank you very much Jessica 💟

[@kataclysm6]

Thank you so much for covering this story.

[@joebright4607]

Ive never heard this or even thought about it, until this moment. I ran an emergency “ yard sale” with coworkers and raised over 8,000 dollars to send to the victims. Obviously that was a drop in the bucket, but I didn’t know what else to do. Some people should be locked up for life, but if I was the last guard on site, I would’ve opened all but death penalty inmates and set them free. Better to let a hundred guilty go free, than to commit one innocent man. Now I add, better to let them all go free, than to subject them to drowning or starvation. These are human beings. Many made a stupid mistake. They do not earn the death penalty for their single action. Miss Kent, thank you for your insight.

[@HarveyTalksPrison]

Enjoy the video. Have you thought of doing a video on the Missouri State Penitentiary? Aka the Walls Aka "The bloodiest 47 acres. Spent 5 years there of my 29 years in prison

[@jenniferwaldrop6181]

Thank you so much for making and sharing videos like this. It brakes my heart to watch and quite frankly makes me sick.

[@BluePeacocks421]

Wow! Thank you so much for bringing this information to light.

[@LoLoLifeinFlorida]

I really enjoyed your video. I love this channel. Sometimes people including myself make mistakes and know all about what is like inside , but there are family members out here that have no idea. It is great that you pretty much give families on the outside information and insist on how things go in jail or prison!

[@nolagirl2458]

I'm from New Orleans & it's bad here!! It was during Katrina & still is! I thought this video was about something that happened last week, the Inmates were locked without food etc screaming from windows for help! I lost my home in Katrina & have severe PTSD. Nola doesn't care about it's citizens much less prisoners. Just an all around $hit $how.. Great video Jess! Our Levy broke and there was 20 ft of water in my house but we did evacuate thank God and always do

[@vannahfrazier174]

You are amazing story teller. I felt the fear some of these folks must have felt, just by your real life story telling. But, at the end of this clip, the walls with all the family photos-that did it for me. Please keep doing these spots. I’m a fan!

[@kosipova01]

Oh wow, that is horrifying. Thank you for talking about this.

[@MindyBeee]

Horrific and heartbreaking. RIP to the victims 🌹

[@sarahbuckley9254]

My wife is from Biloxi. Mississippi so this hits home for us. We currently live in Ohio. So I was pumped you decided to cover this inhumane tragedy. This was a very accurate description of what happened and needs to be talked about more!

[@moonshayd]

This is horrifying! I just graduated high school and moved down south that year and remember how bad it was for awhile from that storm. I have CPTSD and I can't even imagine... I have a serious fear of being trapped like that. 😥

[@sherrimclain1561]

i do like this video you did. it is an eye opener. thank you for sharing.

[@cynthiafisher3392]

That was an amazing video about something that I literally had never heard of before. Of course, I knew of the suffering that Katrina caused, I just had never heard the story of this prison and how it was so mis-handled. Thank you for shedding light on that.

[@suefontaine5227]

Jess, thank you so much for doing this video! I lived in New Orleans during Katrina. Nagin was so corrupt! He did serve about 9 years in Dallas, TX.

[@smurph13]

I think the main thing that frustrated people the most about Katrina overall is that the local government didn't even fucking try beforehand to help people and prevent loss. Whether they vastly underestimated the strength of the storm (iirc the initial tracking was indicating a lesser category then it suddenly hit 5 just before hitting shore), or more frankly, they didn't care - they didn't even *try*. Even with the short time frame preceding the storm, they could've been having non-perishable food, bottled water and other necessities shipped in from further north, other states. If a storm is strong enough to be considered a hurricane, it's strong enough to cause flooding and damage. It's really fucking sad that only after a tragedy of this magnitude is a "lesson learned." Why's it too much to ask to have a plan beforehand? ..That gives me an idea, actually. Make it mandatory that every city, county whatever level, particularly areas that regularly see natural disasters of ANY kind: whoever is responsible for city/emergency planning, employ at least 1 person with anxiety to assist with plans BEFORE disaster strikes. (I'm sorta joking buuuut also kinda not lol).

[@lauraleehagans9213]

I volunteer as tribute! Over thinking mixed with insomnia and anxiety....I will have a draft for each prison by the end of the week!

[@iwatchtoomuchtruecrime]

Much love to you Jessica ❤️

[@YM-fw4ki]

Loving this series even though this is the first episode I’ve watched!

[@danielpalmer643]

This was really interesting. Shame on everyone who made this happen and kudos to the people who did the right thing. Hiding 517 deaths sounds like one of the worst crimes ever committed in Louisiana. Did any officials get arrested for this? No, of course not.

[@azurastar3223]

The only thing I will say in defense of the terrible people in charge is, I watched the news during this time. I lived in south Texas, and luckily my town wasn't hit, but traffic in my city, much less, New Orleans, was bumper to bumper. It was like something out of a movie. Even with a proper plan, no busses could have made it there to save everyone. But they shouldn't have called this a victory. It was a failure.

[@BadgerBabyBoy]

“WeLL tHeY sHoULdn’T hAvE bRoKeN tHe LaW” is just an extremely ignorant statement & so frustrating when people keep saying it every time a situation involving prisoners being neglected & abused comes up.

[@jaredflores9483]

Thx for sharing your jostin war stories with us

[@DogMommy.]

I love you're videos Jess. You give me alot of hope that everything is going to be ok. ❤️ God bless

[@cec3ful]

That demonstrates the way LAW ABIDING people will act when they are pushed in any way that really requires them to be in a situation of accountability🖤

[@teresaacevedo1731]

Great video !

[@laylabell9301]

I lived in New Orleans for 6 years I just started watching this video and the title of the video gave me goosebumps

[@rolandmendozain]

Subbed you keep it real 💯 from you personal experiences to news

[@JShawnPaul]

Horrible situation I couldn’t even imagine going through what they did. That’s pure torture and I hope somebody got in trouble for it

[@williamnicks2148]

If it's any consolation Jess, the mayor later went to federal prison for corruption and other white-collar crimes.

[@ChelseaLynnThibodeaux]

Yep and many of our officials have since. New Orleans definitely isn't short on corruption.

[@theladyinblack3055]

I’m really glad to hear that, not being from the US, and not knowing that! This story was upsetting - it was horrible to watch unfold as it happened too. I don’t suppose the Governor went down too? We were gripped by it up in Canada - I still remember the horrors we saw unfold on TV. I can’t imagine what living it was like!!

[@ChelseaLynnThibodeaux]

@@theladyinblack3055 no it was pretty swept under the rug and they continued to lie and play the blame game. The charges the mayor got in trouble for were a totally separate issue.

[@haleygates5342]

Love all your videos!

[@islandthrifts809]

I worked search and rescue during Katrina while I was in the Air Force. We stayed at a church near the prison and could constantly hear the screams. All the cities leadership kept guaranteeing us the prisoners were being taken care of. Civilians were trying to bring food and water, but the guards would threaten them. It was an awful feeling finding out years later what was really going on in there.

[@TheVernons23]

I was 15 when Katrina hit and we didn’t have electricity for 3 weeks. August is the hottest time with temp up in the hundreds. Night time was so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. No gas, no food, and no money to leave. Night time was so scary because of looters and not be able to see anything coming. It was a crazy time and I wasn’t locked up so I can’t even imagine what they went through. But New Orleans is definitely not the best city and they could care less for their people.

[@TheVernons23]

@ᴊᴇssɪᴄᴀ ᴋᴇɴᴛ I have been enjoying your channel so much. Thank you for bringing awareness to not only prison but also addiction. There is not enough knowledge on these subjects.

[@aleisterlilywhite1109]

I already know this will make me cry. Katrina triggers me soooo bad but I’m obsessed with everything NOLA.

[@truecrimeandtrashtv]

I was in a psych hospital in Kenner when Katrina happened. Some of us got to go home early to get us out of there and the ones that weren’t able to go home had to hunker down in the top three floors of the hospital.

[@nicholekeys8352]

I live an hour outside of New Orleans and remember this storm very well as a free person I can only imagine as an inmate

[@juniorfortune5873]

God bless Jessica Kent trying sooo hard with her BIG heart wanting to help. 🔺⚜️👁️🤟⚖️

[@cowgirl_in_pink_pearls]

Thank you so much for sharing this Jess! I had no idea. So interesting. I would love to know more. This is just awful! This wasn’t in the 40’s! I mean-this is crazy!!!

[@staceyevans4737]

Unbelievable !! No evacuation plan in place! Keep doing these videos. Great job

[@madeleineprice3556]

I can’t believe that there are people that can justify having any humans treated this way, regardless of their criminal record or lack thereof, I am traumatized just hearing about this awful incident holy shit

[@jaredflores9483]

I was 1.5 hours away in Lafayette Louisiana when Katrina touched down!

[@ellen3131]

I don't even have words for this...

[@AnaPau97]

I love this videos Jess!

[@fafnyrslair]

They left them to die and then shot them for escaping!?!?! every human has the right and the drive to try and Escape when they're left to die without food or water

[@winterburden]

Thank you Jess!

[@MK-Hogan]

This would be bad enough somewhere that had a freak storm come through and had no experience, but New Orleans is literally below sea level. They have hurricanes all the time. How there could not be an evacuation plan for anything in that area is unimaginable. If you’re going to live *Below Sea Level* you need to be ready for massive devastation by flooding. It might sound harsh but i think it’s weird that we continue to rebuild the area over and over after terrible hurricanes. It’s clearly not a place that should be inhabited by people, at least not without more engineering to prevent damage or something.

[@J4Jclips]

Amazing insights. Timely with the Apple series.

[@xLostInFirex]

A little bit off topic but I'm always so thankful that I live in a country where there's no natural disasters (I hope I don't jinx it), the worst is like a huge storms that cuts of the power in some rural areas and some trees falling. The only similar and horrific story that I know is is how a decade(s) ago a fire broke out in the mental hospital's acute psych ward (an isolated house) and since the safety measures weren't that good back then the patients stayed locked in (the orderlies couldn't get them out in time) and firefighters couldn't get some of them out of the windows because of the bars on them. Heard a firefighter talking about how he was there back then and how harrowing it was to next to the window where patients were screaming for help but they couldn't get to them (due to the bars) and do nothing, so they burned alive screaming for help right before their eyes. That story still haunts me to this time and I can't imagine the mental damage it must have done to the firefighters.