PBS: "The Old Man and the Storm"

“The Old Man and the Storm” airs Tuesday, January 6 at 9 p.m. ET on the PBS show FRONTLINE. The program’s description reads:

“Six months after Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans, producer June Cross came across 82-year-old Herbert Gettridge working alone on his home in the lower Ninth Ward, a neighborhood devastated when the levees broke in August 2005. Over the next two years, Cross would document the story of the extended Gettridge clan – an African-American family with deep roots in New Orleans – as they struggled to rebuild their homes and their lives.”

You can see more clips and read a full description of this new documentary at FRONTLINE. Living on Earth, the excellent public radio show, also offers an interview with the film maker, June Cross, who describes Mr. Gettridge’s determination to rebuild his home and life:

“In the first place it was the only house that still had four walls that were standing in that neighborhood. So it really could be rescued. I mean he literally just needed to gut it. All the rest of the homes had either pancaked or been washed away. You know, I think his attitude was, well, the house withstood the water. I'll be damned if I'm gonna just walk away from it. I worked too hard to get this.”

Listen to the interview here.