NEW ORLEANS — Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, claiming more than 1,400 lives and displacing hundreds of thousands.
For law enforcement, the storm was a defining moment. Officers improvised with what they had — axes, small boats and sheer determination — to rescue residents trapped by rising water. As the city marks the 20th anniversary, those who served reflect on what they saw, what they endured and the lives they saved.
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Sgt. Danny Scanlan and the axe that saved lives
New Orleans Police Sgt. Danny Scanlan still keeps the axe he used to save lives after Hurricane Katrina.
Hours after the levees broke, Scanlan waded into flooded Gentilly neighborhoods, carrying an elderly woman to safety on his back, WDSU reports.
With nothing more than the axe, he and other officers rescued desperate residents trapped in homes and on rooftops.
“It was our Super Bowl, the police department’s Super Bowl,” Scanlan told WDSU. “I still have that axe. It’s a good axe.”
Capt. Bryan Fleetwood’s boat rescues
On Aug. 29, 2005, then-New Orleans Police Sgt. Bryan Fleetwood launched a small boat from an interstate on-ramp, joining fellow officers and a sheriff’s deputy to save more than 200 people, WDSU reports.
With water 12 feet high in some neighborhoods, Fleetwood and a small team — two NOPD officers and an Orleans Parish Sheriff’s deputy — improvised with the only tool they had: a small boat. Launching it from the interstate on-ramp at Elysian Fields and I-610, they navigated flooded streets, pulling people from rooftops and attics.
“Launching a boat from the interstate — that was something I thought I’d never see in my life,” Fleetwood said.
Back then, few officers had boats ready — it wasn’t part of the city’s emergency plan. Many, like Fleetwood, relied on personal or borrowed watercraft.
Fleetwood retired from NOPD in 2013 and later joined the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, where he now serves as captain. His legacy continues through his two sons, who are now sheriff’s deputies themselves.
“We would do it tomorrow,” Fleetwood said. “That’s what we signed up for.”
NOPD SWAT rescues during the flood
When the levees failed, New Orleans Police SWAT teams took to boats to pull stranded residents to safety. Associated Press photographer Alex Brandon was embedded with the unit, documenting and assisting in rescues. In one case, officers used a lime-green ironing board to carry a paraplegic woman from her flooded attic to safety.
“The boat I was in rescued over a hundred people,” Brandon recalled. The rescues underscored both the desperation in the city and the improvisation required by first responders.
Former NOPD Superintendent Eddie Compass reflects on Katrina
When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Eddie Compass was New Orleans’ police superintendent. With precincts flooded, officers abandoning posts and violence spreading, Compass said there was no playbook, WDSU reports.
“I had to go where no one had ever gone before,” he recalled. “And I knew one thing: human life was paramount.”
Officers improvised, some patrolling in jeans and T-shirts, others using their own boats to pull residents from floodwaters. Compass stayed in front of the media, giving constant updates — sometimes too quickly, he admits.
“I wanted to be transparent with everything … it was a catch-22,” he said.
Weeks later, Compass clashed with then-Mayor Ray Nagin and was asked to resign less than a month after the storm. He believes politics played a role but says he has moved forward. Today, the 66-year-old works in private security and mentors young athletes.
“I want to be remembered for compassion, integrity and honesty,” Compass said. “I forgave those who destroyed my career. I’ve gone on with my life.”
St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office PIO’s Katrina memories
As public information officer for the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, James Hartman’s job during Katrina was to keep residents informed — when to evacuate, where to go and when it was safe to return. Working from the parish Emergency Operations Center in Covington, he relied on a generator and patchy phone service to get critical updates out, NOLA.com reports.
Days after the storm, Hartman accidentally missed a turn and came across a man who had walked from New Orleans with two small bags and nothing to eat in three days. Hartman carried one of his suitcases and brought him to the EOC, where the man collapsed. Doctors later told Hartman the man would not have survived much longer without help.
Hartman also recalls a Marine veteran who showed up at the EOC, offering his skills as a medic and chaplain. “Where do you want me?” the man asked. Hartman’s response: “I want you everywhere.”
Hartman says the moments of good people stepping up will always stay with him, even as the weight of the storm eventually pushed him to leave law enforcement.
Documentaries revisit Katrina
Two new documentary series mark the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, highlighting the experiences of police officers, firefighters and other first responders.
On Hulu and NatGeo, Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time takes viewers inside the storm through personal footage and interviews, including accounts from officers and firefighters who launched boats, carried out rooftop rescues and worked in chaos with limited resources. Former NOPD Superintendent Eddie Compass is among those featured, reflecting on the challenges of leading a department through an unprecedented disaster.
On Netflix, Katrina: Come Hell and High Water brings forward voices from across New Orleans, combining survivor testimony with insights from public officials, journalists and military leaders. The three-part series revisits the Superdome crisis, the levee failures and the slow federal response, underscoring how police and first responders shouldered enormous burdens while also facing devastating personal losses.
A lasting impact
The memories of Hurricane Katrina remain seared into the men and women who answered the call — not just in the destruction they witnessed, but in the acts of service that defined those weeks. From carrying survivors through floodwaters to turning interstate ramps into boat launches, law enforcement officers stepped beyond their traditional roles to protect their communities. Two decades later, their stories serve as a reminder of both the human toll of the disaster and the resilience of those who responded.
