The Weather Channel Marks 5-Year Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

The Weather Channel® (TWC) marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina during "Hurricane Week," Aug. 22-29, with the world television premiere of "Forgotten on the Bayou," Friday, Aug. 27 at 8 p.m. ET. This powerful award-winning documentary tells one man's incredible story of surviving Hurricane Katrina and his journey to get his message of rebuilding New Orleans directly to the president of the United States.

Like many others affected by Katrina, Rockey Vaccarella and his family lost everything, but he was determined to rebuild his hometown. A year later, the slow progress and recovery fueled Rockey's ambition to get in front of the president to let him know that the residents of New Orleans are still here and how there is still more work to be done. "Forgotten on the Bayou" - (2007) documents Rockey's journey to the White House, which gained worldwide media attention.

During "Hurricane Week," TWC will showcase Katrina-related programming including the premiere of "Riding It Out," narrated by Storm Tracker Jim Cantore that tells survival stories of people who decided to stay during the evacuation of Hurricane Katrina. In addition, new episodes of the popular series "Storm Stories" and additional hurricane-related specials will be shown throughout the week.

Beginning Aug. 27, live on-location reports from Cantore and fellow meteorologist Mike Bettes will be given from New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast to speak with residents on what progress has been made five years later.

The themed week will be sponsored by Duracell, the world's leading manufacturer of high-performance alkaline batteries, which will be featured during severe weather tips, tropics updates and lifestyle segments.