Actor Wendell Pierce Leads 20th-Anniversary Reflection on Hurricane Katrina

New York, Aug. 29, 2025 - Award-winning actor and New Orleans native Wendell Pierce marked the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina today with impassioned calls to remember the lives lost and to learn from past failures in disaster response.

Pierce joined ABC News Live in a live interview, recalling the devastation that struck his hometown two decades ago and criticizing the delayed federal response that left thousands stranded without aid. “We should actually have a sense of shame as we think about this commemoration because we left people abandoned and stranded and people lost their lives because of our ineptness and our apathy at a time of crisis,” Pierce said, urging Americans not to let the memory of those who perished fade amid commemorations.

Earlier in the day on NPR’s Morning Edition, Pierce recounted personally evacuating his elderly parents from their Pontchartrain Park home mere hours before the levees broke. He lamented the man-made nature of the disaster, attributing the catastrophic loss of life to systemic neglect and a failure of accountability among both government and insurance providers.

Throughout his interviews, Pierce emphasized the necessity of honoring the resilience of New Orleans communities while holding leaders and institutions responsible for ensuring adequate preparation and rapid response in future crises. He concluded by calling on listeners to carry forward the lessons of Katrina’s aftermath: that in the face of disaster, swift action and collective compassion can-and must-prevail.