PREMIERING FRIDAY, AUG. 29 at 8:30PM

August 29^th marks the 20^th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one of the most devastating natural disasters to ever hit the country.  PARATUS – A 20TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL , premiering Friday, August 29^th at 8:30pm on Alabama Public Television, explores the incredible story of the United States Coast Guard’s swift and lifesaving response to the 2005 hurricane. The story focuses on Coast Guard air rescues carried out by Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans and Coast Guard Aviation Training Center, Mobile across southern Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi in the first two weeks of the response. These men and women helped rescue more than 33,500 people from the impacted areas – the greatest single rescue operation in our nation’s history.

Introduced by actor and inspirational speaker Glenn Morshower, PARATUS features dramatic first-hand accounts from pilots, rescue swimmers and others combined with archival footage of the operations that went on day and night. Coast Guard air crews were trained to rescue people from 25-foot seas, not from flooded city streets. They had to quickly adapt to new conditions, operating with little rest, and pushing themselves to the edge of their abilities to save lives.

“We were doing things that we never trained for,” says one rescue diver. “We were using chainsaws and axes to get into roofs where people were trapped.”

With no phone or radio communications from storm victims, pilots and crews looked for flashlight beams at night and hands waving out of attic windows during the day to locate people in need of help. Swimmers dove into water filled with toxic chemicals to perform rescues. Helicopter pilots maneuvered around power lines and other obstacles to lower rescue baskets. The Coast Guard’s motto, “Semper Paratus” – Latin for “Always Ready” – was put to the test at every turn.

PARATUS – A 20TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL will also be available on APT’s website, the PBS app, and will be rebroadcast Sunday, August 31 at 5:30pm on APT.