(26 September 2005 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: US pubcaster PBS has announced that its programming block Nature will present a special Katrina's Animal Rescue on 20 November, 2005

They are the flood victims who were left behind -- the tens of thousands of household pets separated from their owners in the aftermath of the natural disaster Hurricane Katrina. This special one-hour episode takes viewers to the front lines of the battle to rescue these helpless animals before it's too late.

Navigating the flooded streets of New Orleans the show follows animal rescue teams in their search for survivors -- a dog stranded on a rooftop, a kitten trapped in the branches of a tree -- all without food and water for days or weeks. With the odds against them, rescuers use any means necessary -- up to and including a National Guard tank to reach these animals in distress.

Amazingly, amidst all the chaos and destruction, a lucky few are reunited with their owners. Along the way, the programme explores what happened to the other animal inhabitants of New Orleans - from the zoo and aquarium to the wildlife of Lake Pontchartrain.

Another PBS documentary New Orleans: Anatomy of a Disaster on 22 November will unfold a minute-by-minute reconstruction of the disaster told through eyewitness testimony. What made this storm so destructive? How accurately did scientists predict its impact? And why are powerful hurricanes like Katrina likely to strike more often? The special will explore why the storm was so deadly and why flood defenses and relief planning failed to match Katrina's fury.