Short Description: Paratus — A 20th Anniversary Special recounts the United States Coast Guard’s swift and lifesaving response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, featuring firsthand accounts from pilots, rescue swimmers and others and dramatic archival footage of the operations. The Coast Guard rescued more than 33,500 people from the impacted areas — the greatest single rescue operation in our nation’s history.

Long Description: Paratus — A 20th Anniversary Special explores the incredible story of the United States Coast Guard’s swift and lifesaving response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 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 firsthand 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  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.