AMBER_OC BREAK_1 BREAK_2 BREAK_3 BREAK_4 BREAK_5 BURL_CAIN_OC BURL_CAIN_OCVO BURL_CAIN_VO BURL_CAIN_VOOC CATHY_FONTENOT_OC CATHY_FONTENOT_OCVO CATHY_FONTENOT_VO CATHY_FONTENOT_VOOC CHAD_MENZINA_OC CHAD_MENZINA_OCVO CHAD_MENZINA_VO CHAD_MENZINA_VOOC COOK_OCVO FEMALE_NEWSCASTER_1_VOOC FEMALE_OFFICER_1_VO FEMALE_OFFICER_2_VO FEMALE_OFFICER_3_OC FEMALE_OFFICER_3_VO FEMALE_OFFICER_4_OCVO FEMALE_VOICE_1_VO FEMALE_VOICE_2_VO FEMALE_VOICE_3_VO GROUP_OCVO GROUP_VOOC HARVEY_SLATER_OC HARVEY_SLATER_OCVO HARVEY_SLATER_VO HARVEY_SLATER_VOOC HOST_VO JASON_WHITTINGTON_OC JASON_WHITTINGTON_OCVO JASON_WHITTINGTON_VOOC JOE_LAMARTINIERE_OCVO JOE_LAMARTINIERE_VOOC LENNY_NICHOLAS_OCVO LENNY_NICHOLAS_VOOC LOGAN_CAMPBELL_OCVO LOGAN_CAMPBELL_VOOC MALE_DEEJAY_VOOC MALE_GUARD_7_VO MALE_INMATE_10_OCVO MALE_INMATE_1_VOOC MALE_INMATE_2_VO MALE_INMATE_3_OC MALE_INMATE_3_VO MALE_INMATE_4_OC MALE_INMATE_5_OC MALE_INMATE_6_OC MALE_INMATE_7_OC MALE_INMATE_8_OCVO MALE_INMATE_8_VOOC MALE_INMATE_9_OCVO MALE_INMATE_9_VOOC MALE_INMATE_PASTOR_VOOC MALE_IN_BLUE_SHIRT_OC MALE_IN_BLUE_SHIRT_VOOC MALE_IN_TAN_CAP_OC MALE_IN_TAN_CAP_VOOC MALE_NEWSCASTER_1_OC MALE_NEWSCASTER_1_VOOC MALE_OFFICER_10_OC MALE_OFFICER_11_VO MALE_OFFICER_12_OC MALE_OFFICER_12_OCVO MALE_OFFICER_13_OC MALE_OFFICER_13_VOOC MALE_OFFICER_14_OC MALE_OFFICER_15_OC MALE_OFFICER_15_VOOC MALE_OFFICER_16_OC MALE_OFFICER_17_VOOC MALE_OFFICER_18_VO MALE_OFFICER_19_VO MALE_OFFICER_1_VOOC MALE_OFFICER_20_VO MALE_OFFICER_21_OC MALE_OFFICER_22_OC MALE_OFFICER_22_VO MALE_OFFICER_23_OC MALE_OFFICER_24_VO MALE_OFFICER_25_VO MALE_OFFICER_26_VO MALE_OFFICER_27_OC MALE_OFFICER_28_OC MALE_OFFICER_29_VO MALE_OFFICER_2_VO MALE_OFFICER_31_OC MALE_OFFICER_32_VOOC MALE_OFFICER_33_OC MALE_OFFICER_34_VO MALE_OFFICER_35_VO MALE_OFFICER_3_OC MALE_OFFICER_4_VO MALE_OFFICER_5_OC MALE_OFFICER_5_VOOC MALE_OFFICER_6_OC MALE_OFFICER_7_VO MALE_OFFICER_7_VOOC MALE_OFFICER_8_VO MALE_OFFICER_9_VO MALE_VOICE_10_VO MALE_VOICE_11_VO MALE_VOICE_12_VO MALE_VOICE_13_VO MALE_VOICE_14_VO MALE_VOICE_15_VO MALE_VOICE_16_VO MALE_VOICE_1_VO MALE_VOICE_2_VO MALE_VOICE_3_VO MALE_VOICE_4_VO MALE_VOICE_5_VO MALE_VOICE_6_VO MALE_VOICE_7_VO MALE_VOICE_8_VO MALE_VOICE_9_VO OFFICER OFFICER_5_VO OFFICER_DELANY_OC OFFICER_DELANY_VOOC OFFICER_DUPREE_VOOC OFFICER_HILL_VO OFFICER_LENIN_VOOC OFFICER_SMITH_VO RONNIE RONNIE_FRUGE_OC RONNIE_FRUGE_OCVO RONNIE_FRUGE_VO RONNIE_FRUGE_VOOC SERGEANT_DUPREE_VOOC SERGEANT_DUPRE_VOOC SINGERS_VO STEPHANIE_ALLEN_OCVO STEPHANIE_ALLEN_VOOC TIMOTHY_LEONARD_OC TIMOTHY_LEONARD_OCVO TIMOTHY_LEONARD_VOOC TRAVIS_JOHNSON_OC TRAVIS_JOHNSON_OCVO TRAVIS_JOHNSON_VO TRAVIS_JOHNSON_VOOC WARDEN_BURL_CAIN WARDEN_CAIN_VOOC WC HOST VO Louisiana, the state with the highest murder rate… MALE VOICE 1 VO Five separate shootings in New Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. HOST VO …and the harshest sentences. LENNY NICHOLAS OCVO I was sentenced to Angola in 1980 for a life sentence. HOST VO Those convicted of the worst crimes end up here, at Angola, the nation’s largest and most notorious maximum security prison. HARVEY SLATER VO This place is designed to be escape proof. BURL CAIN VOOC This is a really hardcore prison. HARVEY SLATER VO Bad things happen real, real quick here. HOST VO Once a man enters these gates, he’s locked in Warden Cain’s world. BURL CAIN VOOC We call it the land of new beginnings, because it is like another country. It is like another place. MALE VOICE 2 VO Hear now! MALE OFFICER 1 VOOC If it ain’t hard just put it in the sack! HOST VO The Warden gives every inmate a choice. MALE OFFICER 2 VO Lady on the tier. HOST VO …rebel and live in despair, or cooperate and earn unprecedented privileges. MALE VOICE 3 VO Bring them down that fence, “Redneck.” BURL CAIN VOOC You can move your way up all the way on through the system to almost feeling like you’re free. HOST VO And some inmates earn a chance to taste freedom at the annual inmate rodeo. MALE VOICE 4 VO The Angola Prison rodeo. Make some noise. He’s got mayhem on his mind. Get out his way! CATHY FONTENOT VOOC A rodeo sounds kind of crazy. If crazy works, why not? COOK OCVO To me it’s my freedom. I feel free just for a few minutes. HOST VO Every day in the shut-away world, men rise and fall, live and die. GROUP VOOC Yeah, I shall not be… HOST VO But few of them ever leave. MALE INMATE 1 VOOC More people die here than, than make parole or release. HOST VO On this episode… MALE DEEJAY VOOC We have been declared a state of emergency. HOST VO …when a historic flood threatens Angola. Warden Cain triggers the first prison evacuation… FEMALE OFFICER 1 VO Everybody out! HOST VO …in Angola’s history. BURL CAIN OC What better way to create chaos and cause escape? MALE VOICE 5 VO BURL CAIN VO In Louisiana they use Angola as a deterrent. “You be good or we’re going to send you to Angola.” HARVEY SLATER VO Bad things happen quick here. This was labeled as the bloodiest prison in the world. CATHY FONTENOT VO Every day it’s about life and death. It’s always the unexpected here. RONNIE FRUGE VO We wasn’t made to be behind bars. We were made to be free. HARVEY SLATER VO You got inmates that will be good all year just so they can do this rodeo. BURL CAIN VOOC So good food, good medicine, good playing, good praying. Good prison. HOST VO 22 miles from the nearest town, these unimposing gates mark the entrance to an isolated world. MALE VOICE 5 VO K FRESH OCVO You are listening to KLSP radio station 91.7, the incarceration station, the only one in the nation, the one that kicks behind the bricks. Angola’s best KLSP. MALE VOICE 5 VO HOST VO Surrounded on three sides by the Mississippi River, this tightly controlled enclave has been known as the “Alcatraz of the South.” MALE OFFICER 3 OC Good morning. MALE OFFICER 4 VO Good morning. HOST VO And every day here begins the same way. MALE OFFICER 5 OC Patrol Hill. OFFICER HILL VO Here. MALE OFFICER 5 OC Southport, Goode. OFFICER GOODE VO Here. OFFICER 5 VO Tower one, Smith. OFFICER SMITH VO Here. MALE OFFICER 5 VOOC All right. Let’s go get some money. MALE OFFICER 6 OC All right, Mr. Boone. All right. MALE VOICE 5 VO MALE OFFICER 7 VOOC Got to get up and get dressed! HOST VO 5300 men wake up to serve another day’s penance for their heinous crimes... MALE OFFICER 7 VO Everybody needs to be ready to go. MALE VOICE 5 VO HOST VO …locked far, far away from the free world. MALE GUARD 7 VO Get all your clothes hanging in there, man. It’s after seven. HOST VO For Lenny Nicholas… MALE GUARD 7 VO Make that bed up. HOST VO …today is just another day of a life sentence. LENNY NICHOLAS VOOC Make our bed up like military style. We’re like a creature of habit, of repetition. There’s a lot of things I get tired of. Waking up in here every day for the last 34 years. MALE VOICE 5 VO HOST VO Lenny’s not the only one who’s been waking up in the same penitentiary housing for decades. HOST VO Louisiana’s Angola Prison is large enough to house both inmates and staff. HOST VO Just down the road from the main prison, you can find the home of the prison Warden. BURL CAIN VOOC Keno! I got to give Keno a bone. HOST VO Warden Burl Cain is the commander in chief of the micro-nation that is Angola. BURL CAIN OC I have one in the house. HOST VO Just like the inmates in his charge, the Warden lives inside Angola’s gates. Cutoff from the outside world. BURL CAIN OC Come on, girl! HOST VO For almost two decades, Warden Cain has run Angola in his own, unconventional way. BURL CAIN VOOC She’s three quarters wolf. You big ole wolf. What’s a bad wolf doing today, huh? Look at her big old feet. She’s big. BURL CAIN VOOC I’ve been the Warden here at Angola about 17 years. I live here and I work here. When I was just a kid, never did I ever dream I would ever be here, especially as a Warden. This is the furthest place you wanted to be. Don’t go to Angola, miserable place. HOST VO When you live insides a maximum security prison, it doesn’t hurt to keep a couple guard dogs around. BURL CAIN OCVO Come on, Keno! Stand up tall! Look at me. BURL CAIN VOOC I would have a dog wherever I lived because I don't really want to shoot anybody. She’s just a pure predator when it comes to food. And you don’t take her food away from her once you give it to her. You can’t have it back. BURL CAIN VOOC In the past, one of the Wardens years ago, he broke in his house and took him hostage. We just don’t want that to happen to us, and he’s going to prevent that from happening. HOST VO The Warden’s not the only staff member who lives on prison property. More than 200 employees and their families live on the B-Line. A staff community named for a railway that once ran through these grounds. BURL CAIN VOOC This is our little city, B-Line. We have about 600 people live here. The school bus comes in. We have ballparks. We’re putting in a little put-put golf course. We’re the only prison in America with its actually own post office, own zip code. HOST VO And the B-Line has an added benefit, providing an army of guards who can respond to a prison emergency within minutes. BURL CAIN VOOC The B-Line is a reserve. It’s a force. It’s, that’s a cavalry. BURL CAIN VOOC I want to keep the employees here on the weekend. Keep them here all they can. It’s just insurance, so that if we have any violence or an escape, then they’re here. HOST VO In fact, that cavalry will be tested in the coming days. HOST VO Up north, the Mississippi River is rising faster and higher than usual. BURL CAIN VOOC The Mississippi River drains two-thirds of the United States. So, if you have a flood in the Ohio Valley, you have a flood in Minnesota, then you are going to flood here, big time. HOST VO A flood could turn this natural moat that surrounds the prison into an escape route. The Warden has his full staff prepared to spring into action. HOST VO One of them is Harvey Slater… HOST VO …a Lieutenant Colonel and a dedicated family man. AMBER OC You want to do the deer sausage? HARVEY SLATER OCVO Yeah, absolutely. I been working here 29 years. Been raised here, this is like, this is my home. AMBER OC All right. HARVEY SLATER VOOC And I mean, how would I not live in a prison? Because I never lived nowhere else. HARVEY SLATER VOOC I try to keep no less than three knives on me at all times. Because just in case you get captured or something, you know. And they shake you down and find the two knives, you might have one knife that they don’t find and be able to cut your way out, you know. HOST VO Every day, Slater makes the same short drive from his home on the B-Line to his post overseeing prisoners on Angola’s farm. HARVEY SLATER VOOC I’ve been around these prisoners all my life. And we was actually raised together. HOST VO But just because they grew up together, doesn’t mean they’re friends. Slater never forgets that everything could go to hell at any moment. HARVEY SLATER VOOC At one time this was labeled as the most bloodiest prison in the world. HARVEY SLATER OC I was here during them days. You know, and I been involved in the last 30 years in every riot, hostage, situation at this prison. HARVEY SLATER VOOC I seen something I thought I’d never see. I seen, I seen the murder of an officer here. So, I never forget that they’re prisoners. HARVEY SLATER OCVO Bad things happen here quick. There’s not like a warning sign comes up and then the lights start flashing, and then a siren goes off and then something happens. It’s blam, it’s in your lap and you deal with it, and hopefully you go home and live to do it again another day. HOST VO For many of Angola’s inmates, another day means heading out to the prison farm for eight hours of hard labor. MALE OFFICER 8 VO William! MALE OFFICER 8 VO Evans! HOST VO Warden Cain enforces strict routines and a zero tolerance policy on rule-breaking, to keep thousands of convicted felons in line. BURL CAIN VOOC You got to have rules, and you have to have structure, then you have to follow them. HOST VO It’s a trick he learned before he got into the prison business. MALE OFFICER 9 VO You’re out of this hole? Where you at? BURL CAIN VOOC My profession is a high school teacher, and I never worked in a prison. The skills I learned to teach high school is what really made it work for me. MALE OFFICER 10 OC Stay in line. BURL CAIN VO You know it’s real simple. Criminals are selfish people, they’re teenagers to me. I’m going to discipline them, though positively, to try to make them a better person. BURL CAIN OCVO We have to change the public perception that prison is a place of torture and torment. It has to be a place of rehabilitation. HOST VO In the Warden’s eyes, the more prisoners he can rehabilitate, the safer his prison will be. MALE VOICE 6 VO Hop in the truck! HOST VO And that’s where the farm comes in. BURL CAIN VOOC We keep them busy. They are busy, busy, busy, busy. Purpose is good, meaningful work, meaningful work. And that’s what we do here. MALE OFFICER 11 VO Make sure you get all them stacks out of that field. MALE INMATE 2 VO I thought you were from the city. TRAVIS JOHNSON OCVO Nuh-uh, I’m from Thibodeaux. That’s the country. I’m from the deep country. Way down yonder. Yeah. HOST VO Travis Johnson is a student in the Warden’s school of hard knocks. TRAVIS JOHNSON VOOC Picking peas right now, same old thing, morning to evening, seven to three. It’s hot out here too. TRAVIS JOHNSON VOOC I was a young man who never really cared for any kind of responsibility. I was a lost kid. My charge is murder and I’m sentenced to life. MALE VOICE 5 VO TRAVIS JOHNSON VOOC When I received my life sentence I think I was 21 years old. The words didn’t even sound real to me. Life with no parole and hard labor. It didn’t even totally sink in what exactly they were saying to me was you going to be in prison for a very long time. MALE OFFICER 12 OCVO Yo, send a man from down that end. Put two on row. Number one start down here! TRAVIS JOHNSON VOOC I was a product of my environment. You start smoking cigarettes, you might steal a car or something, smoke a little weed, next thing you know, you’re doing life. It’s not just my story, it’s a lot of people’s story. MALE VOICE 5 VO HOST VO Travis has spent more ten years serving penance for his crimes. HOST VO But for the new inmates on this bus, their Angola experience is just beginning. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC This is a life changing process you’re looking at. HOST VO Major Ronnie Frugé, a 40-year Angola veteran, greets a new group of inmates every Monday morning. RONNIE FRUGE OCVO Some of them on that bus have been here before. Some on that bus don’t have any clue what penitentiary like. They probably heard stories about Angola. Some of them are scared, some of them acting really tough, they don’t want to be weak. So, all kind of lives on that bus. MALE OFFICER 12 OC 23 of them. RONNIE FRUGE OC 23 on board. Going to line them up, get a count on them. MALE OFFICER 12 OC Yeah. RONNIE FRUGE OCVO All right. Let’s do that. Most of the prisoners that come to Angola are generally doing time for armed robbery, rape or murder. And most of them have at least 50 years to life. Come on, let’s do this. You all line up, double, double line right here. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC But you can count on one thing. Everybody on that bus was somebody’s momma’s baby at one time. She had him, and held him, and thought the most of him. He’s going to be the governor or the president, a lawyer, a doctor. He’s going to do something with his life. And he ended up here. HOST VO Coming up… RONNIE FRUGE VOOC I’m not going to take any chances with you. HOST VO While a new inmate puts Major Frugé to the test… RONNIE FRUGE VOOC You killed your mama. Is that what you’re charged with? HOST VO …a catastrophic flood barrels towards the prison. LENNY NICHOLAS VOOC A lot of guys would love to see this place flood and ruin, but they don’t know what they asking for. BREAK 1 HOST VO By all appearances, it’s a typical spring day at Angola, with the prison running like clockwork under an 80-degree sun. HOST VO But it might not stay typical for long. MALE NEWSCASTER 1 OC Very serious situation, the threat of the rising Mississippi. MALE VOICE 7 VO As the river rises the trouble will keep rippling downstream. HOST VO The Mississippi River is rising steadily around Angola’s periphery… BURL CAIN OC Warden’s office. HOST VO …and Warden Cain monitors the situation. BURL CAIN OC Okay, 4 o’clock. I’m going out there. Bye. HOST VO Over in the main prison, Major Ronnie Frugé handles a more pressing matter… RONNIE FRUGE VOOC What I’m going to do, gentlemen, I’m going to look at each of you on an individual basis. HOST VO Assigning each new inmate to one of Angola’s many housing units, which range from solitary cells… RONNIE FRUGE VOOC I’m going to start calling you up here one at a time. HOST VO …to 90-man dorms. RONNIE FRUGE OC All right. What class offender are you? MALE INMATE 3 VO First-class offender. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC And your charge is second degree murder? MALE INMATE 3 VO Yes, sir. RONNIE FRUGE OC You, let’s see. This happened in a hospital or a nursing home? MALE INMATE 3 OC At my home. RONNIE FRUGE OC At home? MALE INMATE 3 VO Yes, sir. RONNIE FRUGE OC And that was your parents or something? MALE INMATE 3 VO My mom. RONNIE FRUGE OC Mom? MALE INMATE 3 OC Yes, sir. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC I don’t know what the deal was, you know, he killed his mom, but it was killing of someone who was bedridden. I don’t know if he just put her out of her misery or what happened, but he is a weak little, white individual that will have a very, very hard time in prison. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC If I have any feeling that you’re going to be in any danger, I’m going to lock you up somewhere. I’m not going to take any chances with you. MALE INMATE 3 OC I believe I may have some problems. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC Placing this many prisoners, if I mess up one time it’s bad. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC Come with me outside. If I place a prisoner in a less than desirable housing area and people get hurt, I’m going to be in real big trouble. Probably just as well pack my bags, because Warden Cain’s probably going to run me off. RONNIE FRUGE OCVO Don’t, don’t beat around the bush. You, you killed your mom. Is that what happened? Is that what you’re charged with? And you think maybe somebody might be mad at you and want to hurt you? All right, you’re a young, small framed white guy in a really bad place. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC I’m going to start you off in extended lockdown for right now. And that’s a one-man cell, you going to be in there by yourself. Okay? That’s the best place for you. MALE INMATE 3 VO Yeah. RONNIE FRUGE VO All right? MALE INMATE 3 VO Yes sir. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC You ask when you want to come out. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC So, I’m going to have to do some serious protecting on that dude. He’s just so feeble. And, and he’s so weak, you know. And we can’t watch him all the time, the only place we can put him is in a protection team. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC And he’s probably going to stay there, if I had to guess, forever. I’m saving his life. That’s what I do. You know I put them in the right place. HOST VO Major Frugé places some inmates in extended lockdown divisions for their own protection. HOST VO But others land in solitary, because they can’t be trusted. HOST VO Camp J houses more than 400 of Angola’s most defiant and dangerous prisoners. MALE OFFICER 12 OC Lady on the tier! CHAD MENZINA VO Get all that down. HOST VO Assistant Warden Chad Menzina is the brave officer in charge of the unit. CHAD MENZINA VOOC I was assigned to Camp J two years ago when I was promoted to Assistant Warden. MALE OFFICER 13 VOOC Roll on that door… CHAD MENZINA VO Down here they don’t have any type of weapons or anything, because the inmate can take whatever weapon they have and use it against them. MALE OFFICER 13 OC Roll on that door. HOST VO Even though they are locked down in an eight by six cell, 23 hours a day… MALE OFFICER 13 OC Sit it up. Sit it up. HOST VO …Camp J inmates can still manage to wreak havoc. CHAD MENZINA VOOC Working here, you’re going to see fights. You’re going to see people get stabbed. You’re going to see people hang their self. MALE OFFICER 14 OC Where he at? CHAD MENZINA VO We had one hang himself the other day. It happened in a split second. And that’s just stuff that you have to keep in the back of your mind when you come in here and go to work, and put that uniform on. CHAD MENZINA OC Get out of that bed and make that bed up. MALE INMATE 4 OC I escaped from the parish two times, so I’m considered him a flight risk. CHAD MENZINA OCVO Pull that open. Most of them are just bad. And we try to get through to them that they don’t have to be down here. I mean this is your choice. There is something better, you can move all the way up to be a Trustee. HOST VO Inmates who play by the rules can earn a place as one of 1500 or so trustees. HOST VO It can take an inmate more than ten years to achieve trustee status, but then he’s eligible for the most coveted jobs on the farm. Raising bloodhounds, herding cattle in wide open pastures, or training wild horses. MALE VOICE 8 VO Punch her up! HOST VO Harvey Slater runs the equine unit. HARVEY SLATER OCVO I’ve loaded enough horses to know that that won’t work. There’s a lot of bumps and obstacles in the road to get to be a trustee. HARVEY SLATER OCVO They have to have ten years in at least. And have to have a pretty good conduct record. Something that they got to work towards. HARVEY SLATER VOOC You have eight hours a day you’re not confined. You don’t have a dude standing there on a horse with a gun over you at all times. I mean, if I was in the prison this is where I’d want to be working at, you know, I’d want to be a horse boy. HARVEY SLATER OCVO You get to get out and ride, you know, you have a little freedom, you know. HARVEY SLATER VO But I mean one mishap and you’re going back to the extended lockdown. HOST VO Even the most trusted inmates can present a security risk. HARVEY SLATER VO I’m fitting to go get us a count. Harvey Slater style. HOST VO So, Harvey keeps tight tabs on them. HARVEY SLATER OCVO I see “Redneck” right there. This is the ones I’ve seen. HARVEY SLATER VO This is a fail proof system right here. You can’t go wrong. HARVEY SLATER VOOC And you might say, “Man, that’s a lot of daggone time you’re wasting right there trying to do this.” Is it? I’ve had two escape on me. HARVEY SLATER VOOC We haven’t seen, we need to go find him. If he’s not where he’s supposed to be, me and him going to have a come to Jesus talk when I do find him. HARVEY SLATER VOOC These camps, they’re designed to be escape proof. But if you can get, you know, everything lined up at the right time, you get the right people on your side, it’d be pretty easy to get out of here. HARVEY SLATER VOOC There’s Hal McGreg right there. HARVEY SLATER VO And that completes this puzzle. HOST VO The way Slater sees it, Angola is a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment. HOST VO Major Frugé sees things a little differently. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC Well that’s beautiful roses, huh? Every time I leave from here, I break one of them roses and bring it to my wife on my way back. So, one of these days, I’m a forget and I’m going to be in trouble. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC You know, corrections has a lot of divorce rates, and it’s probably because they didn’t bring their wife enough flowers. RONNIE FRUGE OC Hey honey, I’m home. Look what I got you. RONNIE FRUGE’S WIFE OC Thank you, baby. RONNIE FRUGE VO There you go. We done it real good. RONNIE FRUGE’S WIFE OC I love that. RONNIE FRUGE OC You got to put it with your other ones. RONNIE FRUGE’S WIFE VO I will. RONNIE FRUGE OC That’s it! RONNIE FRUGE’S WIFE VOOC Thank you, daddy. That’s special. RONNIE FRUGE VO How was your day? RONNIE FRUGE’S WIFE OC If was long. RONNIE FRUGE OC I found two beers, mom. RONNIE FRUGE’S WIFE VO Oh, we’re in business, golly. RONNIE FRUGE OC Yeah, we’re in business. HOST VO Coming up... MALE VOICE 9 VO Towns up and down the river are being evacuated. HOST VO Inmates and staff… MALE OFFICER 15 OC Count time! HOST VO …wake up to a shocking reality. BURL CAIN VOOC Somebody could sabotage the levee. What better way to create chaos and cause escape? HARVEY SLATER OCVO My gun is ready and I’m ready. BREAK 2 MALE OFFICER 15 VOOC Count time. Count time, everybody on your beds. HOST VO In the blink of an eye… MALE INMATE 5 OC Excuse me, sir… HOST VO …the rigid daily routines that are essential to keeping the peace at Angola Prison have been disrupted. MALE VOICE 9 VO Towns up and down the river from Illinois to Kentucky, Missouri to Arkansas, and Tennessee to Mississippi are being evacuated and the flooding is still in the early stages. HOST VO With the river surrounding the prison rising at unprecedented rates, Angola could be underwater in less than two days. BURL CAIN VOOC Well, here’s where we are. The Mississippi River going to crest at 64.5 feet on May 22nd. And if you look at the map, this is the Mississippi River, it’s coming around. Now there’s water all the way over to this levee in deep water. Now the Corps admits they’ve never dealt with this much water coming down the Mississippi River in the history of the Corps. MALE IN BLUE SHIRT VOOC They’re actually over what the spillways was designed to carry. HOST VO A flood is a disaster for any community. But for a maximum security prison, it could be their worst nightmare. BURL CAIN VOOC Somebody could sabotage the levee. I mean what better way to create chaos and cause escape. HOST VO Warden Cain orders all hands on deck. MALE OFFICER 16 OC Unload. HOST VO For the first time in months, Travis Johnson won’t be picking vegetables. MALE OFFICER 17 VOOC We’re getting ready to put some sandbags out, just in case they need to be put where they have a problem. HOST VO Like everyone at Angola, his block has been reassigned to help keep the floodwaters at bay. MALE OFFICER 18 VO It’s going to be a long day. TRAVIS JOHNSON OCVO Uh-huh. At Angola it’s rumored that the levee might break. It might have some real serious floodwaters in there. We right on the Mississippi. A flood would, would basically sink this place. We’re in kind of like a bowl, so if the levee breaks that bowl is going to fill up. There’s no more Angola, I’m assuming. HOST VO Jason Whittington, the officer who oversees Travis’s field line, is wary any time prison routines are interrupted. JASON WHITTINGTON VOOC A lot of these guys… JASON WHITTINGTON OCVO …you don’t know what to expect from them. These inmates, they’re a team. And we’re the bad guy, you know, in their eyes. JASON WHITTINGTON VOOC They have kind of an upper hand in a way, that they got the time to think about things. We actually have lives outside this place. We do our eight hours and we go home. We spend time with our family and they got 24 hours a day, seven days a week to figure out how to mess over the free man. HOST VO In his 30 years at Angola, Harvey Slater has seen emergency situations throw the entire prison into chaos and violence. And he’s learned to be prepared. HARVEY SLATER VOOC I’m a part of every response team here. Chase team, the SWAT team, the bomb tech, the boat squad, the tactical unit. Those are hard to deal with. HOST VO Slater never forgets that in the case of an upheaval, he could have to face off with dangerous criminals. HARVEY SLATER VOOC Give me the works. I want every possible thing I can get. HOST VO If anything goes down, Slater wants to be sure his guns are in working order. HARVEY SLATER VO We’re ready to roll. HARVEY SLATER VOOC Hopefully I don’t need it, but if I do I want to have it. I want to get out there and be no dummy. You know, my weapon not functioning when I need it to. HARVEY SLATER VOOC I’m real, real confident in it. Hopefully they don’t make me have to use it. But the gun is ready, and I am ready. HOST VO With the river already reaching historic heights, the situation is becoming more pressing by the minute. HOST VO In addition to the threat of massive flooding, rising waters are bringing another danger ashore, gators. CATHY FONTENOT VO That’s massive, right there. HOST VO Assistant Warden Cathy Fontenot, one of Angola’s top brass, evaluates the situation. CATHY FONTENOT VO They can get really, really big out here. OFFICER LENIN VOOC Bunch of gators, big gators behind Camp C. There’s one big one right there. CATHY FONTENOT VOOC That’s what Warden Cain calls our, natural perimeter security, our free officers. HOST VO Usually, the alligators help to keep prisoners from considering escape. But now, they pose a threat to everyone on prison grounds. CATHY FONTENOT VOOC There’s about a thousand inmates that are on the other side of there. MALE IN TAN CAP OC It’s coming up in here. CATHY FONTENOT VOOC The high water is causing the wildlife to come up into the main land of the prison. And so what we need to do is just keep them away from the inmates that are working in the sandbags, and also our staff. HOST VO Coming up… SERGEANT DUPRE VOOC You all know the situation we’re in right now with the Mississippi River. You have extra weapons in your tower. Your job is to get those weapons. HOST VO The situation… FEMALE OFFICER 2 VO Everybody out! HOST VO …goes from bad to worse. BURL CAIN VOOC This is the first time we’ve ever evacuated inmates out of Angola. BREAK 3 MALE VOICE 10 VO …in the water. MALE INMATE PASTOR VOOC Even though we find ourselves in a bit of a catastrophic situation, we have a strong ship in a storm and in a time of trouble. Be of good courage, for there will be no life lost. MALE INMATE PASTOR VOOC We thank you for the miracle Father God of making water be still. We thank you for the safety of the citizens of Louisiana. HOST VO Overnight, the Mississippi has risen dramatically. Now, the very river that prevents inmates from escaping is threatening to send the prison into utter chaos. MALE VOICE 11 VO Yeah, five J patrol. MALE IN TAN CAP VOOC What if the levee did break? A thousand, 2,000 lives could die. GROUP OCVO Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! HOST VO Warden Cain orders all farm animals moved to higher ground. BURL CAIN OC No animal is going to live in there that doesn’t swim. MALE INMATE 6 OC Hey! Hey. HOST VO And now, he considers a much more daunting task, evacuating thousands of prisoners. HOST VO He notifies all prison camps to prepare for a possible evacuation. SERGEANT DUPREE VOOC You all know the situation we’re in right now with the Mississippi River rising. If something happens, such as a breach in the levee, you need to know what you need to do. You must make sure your unit is clear. The red lines, that’s going to be our primary evacuation route. Set up two ladders on each unit and start sending your offenders up on the roof. SERGEANT DUPREE VOOC Tower one, you have extra weapons in your tower. Your job is to get those weapons. If the offenders start asking you questions, don’t tell them about this evacuation plan. We don’t want them knowing all the details, what we got going on. SERGEANT DUPREE VOOC You know how they are, they going to think up ways you know to mess it up. Thank you all. HOST VO Some prisoners see any break in routine as an opportunity for mutiny. LENNY NICHOLAS VOOC A lot of guys they think would love to see this place flood and ruined. But they don’t know what they are asking for. This is your home, whether you like it or not, this is your home now. HOST VO With the prison on the brink of a natural disaster… BURL CAIN OC Thank you. Goodbye. Okay. HOST VO …Warden Cain monitors water levels minute by minute and assesses his narrowing options. BURL CAIN VOOC This levee hasn’t been tested ever to this degree. This area where the X is. That’s our weakest area. We think we get serious water within hour to three hours. BURL CAIN VOOC So, I don’t know. God will tell. HOST VO In the dead of night, the Warden calls on a member of his cavalry, Major Ronnie Frugé. RONNIE FRUGE OC I need to check it. I hadn’t checked it yet today, this afternoon. I haven’t checked it since early this morning. I want to see if it’s gotten any worse. HOST VO Within minutes, Frugé travels from his home on the B-Line to inspect the area of concern. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC We’re mainly here at night to kind of check the bad spots… RONNIE FRUGE OCVO …and if something was to go wrong, so then to notify everybody, you know to do what they got to do. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC There on the top of the levee is another problem. HOST VO Right away Frugé sees something is very wrong. RONNIE FRUGE OC This one here is bubbling a little more than the other one. HOST VO He spots water seeping up through the ground. MALE VOICE 12 VO This is the worst spot we found right over here on this edge of the bank. RONNIE FRUGE VO This looks bad. HOST VO It’s the first indication that the levee is weak and could collapse, filling the prison like a fish bowl within hours. Angola Prison is officially in a state of emergency. BURL CAIN VO Tell the front gate when he comes in , have him call me. BURL CAIN VO No matter what time it is. BURL CAIN VOOC And if he don’t, then he didn’t follow orders. HOST VO Warden Cain commands officers in the working cell blocks to prepare their inmates for immediate departure. MALE OFFICER 19 VO Everybody get up and get dressed! HOST VO The cellblocks house offenders with disciplinary problems. FEMALE OFFICER 3 VO Everybody out! HOST VO Men here are among the most likely to take advantage of an emergency situation. So, the warden wants them out first. MALE OFFICER 20 VO Listen up for your name. When she call your name, step up. FEMALE OFFICER 3 OC Davis. Anthony Davis. HOST VO Travis Johnson is among the first group of evacuees. TRAVIS JOHNSON VO It’s really, really frustrating, because I don’t know what’s happening. WARDEN CAIN VOOC This is the first time we’ve ever evacuated inmates out of Angola. BURL CAIN VOOC I believe we okay, but I don’t know. BREAK 4 HOST VO In the thick of the night… MALE OFFICER 21 OC Come out front when you hear your name. HOST VO …Warden Cain ordered nearly 2,000 of Angola’s most troublesome inmates to evacuate Angola Prison. MALE OFFICER 22 OC Price! One of you all. BURL CAIN VOOC To evacuate the prison is real risky if you don’t… BURL CAIN OC …plan well and you’re not prepared. HOST VO By the time they exit the gates, bound for other prison facilities in Louisiana, daylight has set in. BURL CAIN VOOC Our biggest concern when we make these moves is that you become more vulnerable. Buses are loaded with murderers and rapists, and armed robbers, so once you load that bus, that bus don’t stop until it gets where it’s going. HARVEY SLATER VO Start getting nervous now, you know. HOST VO A seasoned member of Angola’s tactical team, Harvey Slater helps to lead the convoy. HARVEY SLATER VOOC We’re escorting 13… HARVEY SLATER OCVO …buses of the most dangerous prisoners at Angola for six or seven hours. You never know what’s going to happen. HARVEY SLATER VOOC The prisoners are pretty slick, they got 24 hours a day to outthink me. And while I’m sitting at the house last night eating supper with my wife and my kids, these prisoners are still sitting in them cells thinking about how they going to get over on me today. HARVEY SLATER VOOC They could have someone sitting out there waiting on us, ambush us or whatever. HOST VO Slater’s not the only one who’s concerned… HOST VO …victim’s families have been bombarding assistant Warden Cathy Fontenot, all day. CATHY FONTENOT VOOC We’ve been taking calls from some concerned victims, wanting to know where their offender is. If you’re a crime victim, you want to know that the person is in prison… CATHY FONTENOT OCVO …is secure. And any kind of move can be a very nervous time for them. I can appreciate that. CATHY FONTENOT VOOC You know, and also, the types of prisoners that we have, murderers, robbers and, and rapists, the victims you know they do feel fear for their personal safety. And they want to know where exactly these guys have been moved. HOST VO Convicted first-degree murderer, Travis Johnson, has no idea where he’s headed. All he knows is that he’s outside Angola’s gates, for the first time in over a decade. TRAVIS JOHNSON VO I just put the music on and, and watched the scenery. TRAVIS JOHNSON VO I haven’t seen the outside world in a long time. TRAVIS JOHNSON OC It’s been almost a decade and a half. I’ve seen stores, you know… TRAVIS JOHNSON VO …the highway, the, the Mississippi River. TRAVIS JOHNSON VO It’s just small things that I ain’t never knew I missed. TRAVIS JOHNSON VO It’s the freedom really, actually freedom, real freedom. HOST VO After two hours on the road. MALE OFFICER 22 VO Everybody come up front. HOST VO Travis’s bus pulls into Avoyelles Correctional Center in central Louisiana. Now Travis faces a new challenge. TRAVIS JOHNSON VO Every prison… TRAVIS JOHNSON VO …has its own way of doing things… TRAVIS JOHNSON VO …and their own code… TRAVIS JOHNSON VO …that, that they live by. TRAVIS JOHNSON VO You got to really pay attention, you know. TRAVIS JOHNSON VO You just learn by looking. HOST VO Back at Angola the Mississippi has risen drastically in a few short hours. HOST VO Returning home from a long night of emergency response, Major Frugé is dealt a blow. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC I had the house brought up to… RONNIE FRUGE OCVO …above any kind of height that normally should have flooded. Thinking that was never flooding again. This was a really pretty lawn with about eight foot of clearance to the bottom of the house. That was my horse shed, and it’s pretty much under water. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC And you know when you’re a corrections officer and you don’t make a terrible lot of money, you don’t really want to lose your house. They said it’s a 500-year flood, but I don’t believe them. I’m going to get some flood insurance next time. HOST VO Nearby, the main prison is eerily quiet. Nearly 2,000 inmates have been sent off to other prisons and the rest of Angola’s population is riding out the flood at out-camps on higher ground. But one area of the prison is still buzzing. Camp J. CHAD MENZINA VO This is probably the worst in the state… CHAD MENZINA OCVO …as far as disciplinary problems. So, we decided to keep this 130 here. CHAD MENZINA VOOC Make sure you all stress to your people that we just didn’t randomly pick them. We went through all their records. We got a lot of parents that’s calling for these inmates and they’re worried to death the levee’s breaking, they’re wondering why we’re keeping these inmates here. CHAD MENZINA VOOC And I know a lot of them’s worried about just us leaving, abandoning, and them stuck in the cell, that’s not going to happen. We will be here until the last offender gets out of Camp J. MALE OFFICER 23 OC Close! CHAD MENZINA VOOC They do know that if something happens, that we will have to evacuate pretty quickly. And I feel 100 percent sure that if something happens and that levee breaks, that I’m not going to look around for my Captains or Majors, because they’re going to be right here with me. And we’re going to be going down there and getting inmates out of this prison. BREAK 5 MALE VOICE 5 VO HOST VO In the wake of an emergency evacuation, Louisiana’s Angola Prison is alarmingly quiet. MALE NEWSCASTER 1 VOOC At Angola State Prison, the threat of the rising Mississippi is a very serious situation. FEMALE VOICE 1 VO Those telephone poles mark the road where employees would park their cars to take the ferry over to the prison. HOST VO Those who remain on prison grounds are on high alert. CATHY FONTENOT VO I mean that, that is a lot of water. BURL CAIN OC Let’s talk about this flood. HOST VO Major Frugé returns from surveying the grounds and reports to Warden Cain. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC And the levees, we checked them, I went out there at 6:15 this morning and checked all the little maintenance things and… RONNIE FRUGE OC …it’s, it’s holding. It’s doing real well. BURL CAIN OC That’s incredible. BURL CAIN OC No loss of life. Isn’t that great? HOST VO Finally, the worst is over. The Mississippi River has begun to recede. FEMALE NEWSCASTER 1 VOOC Burl Cain anticipates those inmates that were shipped off to other prisons will be moved back when the water returns to near normal levels. BURL CAIN VOOC We’re going to look back at it and say, “Kiss my ass, Mississippi River. I fought you as hard as I could. Sayonara.” HOST VO Major Frugé and his wife were forced to abandon their home when it flooded. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC The water was fixing to come in my house and I was really worried. HOST VO Frugé returned to fix the place up before his wife could see the extent of the damage. RONNIE FRUGE OCVO Well hon, you know the water was over here and I thought all the grass was going to die. But it looks like in a couple of days we’re going to get the lawnmower out and cut it. And now you’ll be able to put your swing back up here. And I pressure washed the whole front of the house and the watermark’s even gone. RONNIE FRUGE’S WIFE OC I think it came out good, it’s cleaned up good. RONNIE FRUGE OCVO Yeah, in about another two weeks from now you all, you all won’t know there was a flood here. The grass will be green and the flowers will be blooming, and everything will be back to normal. RONNIE FRUGE’S WIFE OC Back to normal. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC We’ll be back swimming in the pool with the grand babies. OFFICER DELANY VOOC We got offenders we evacuated for the flood. They’ve been gone about four weeks. FEMALE OFFICER 4 OCVO How many offenders we have on there? 52? OFFICER DELANY OC And we’re just bringing them all back. MALE OFFICER 24 VO Get off the bus, man. Come on. MALE OFFICER 25 VO Let’s go. MALE OFFICER 26 VO Let’s go, you all have one. MALE INMATE 7 OC Sweet home, Angola! MALE OFFICER 27 OC Get off the bus, man. Come on. HOST VO Now back at home, Travis Johnson may never again see the world outside of Angola Prison. TRAVIS JOHNSON VO I don’t know. I’ve got mixed feelings. I’m kind of glad to be back… . TRAVIS JOHNSON VO …but I kind of liked the vacation, though. TRAVIS JOHNSON OC I enjoyed it. TRAVIS JOHNSON VO Feels good, but it’s kind of sad at the same time. TRAVIS JOHNSON VO Kind of depressing a little bit, you know? TRAVIS JOHNSON VO It’s been years since I’ve seen… TRAVIS JOHNSON OC …some of the simplest stuff I’ve seen and did. It’s been a long time. TRAVIS JOHNSON OC Yeah, it was kind of… TRAVIS JOHNSON OC …like I said, good and bad. Good to see it, sad to see it go. You know? MALE OFFICER 28 OC You all come right around here, come on. MALE OFFICER 29 VO I got to the keys, once we get this off of you all! SINGERS VO HOST VO Next time on Louisiana Lockdown… MALE VOICE 13 VO Turn it off for Camp J, right away. HOST VO Cathy responds to a deadly emergency. FEMALE VOICE 2 VO They pronounced him dead at 11:59. HOST VO Travis tries to move up the inmate ladder. OFFICER DUPREE VOOC Today we’re going to review Travis Johnson. You really need to improve on your record. HOST VO And Slater takes on a momentous security challenge. HARVEY SLATER VOOC It’s a security nightmare. Drugs, alcohol, knives, guns. Got to be prepared for the worst. MALE VOICE 14 VO The horse came back and ran over him. HOST VO For additional scenes and more, visit the official Louisiana Lockdown website at animalplanet.comlouisiana. K FRESH OCVO This is your host for the day on this brand new Monday, “K Fresh”. Wherever you are in the prison, Camp C, Camp D, all camps, Camp J, the main prison, this goes out to you. This is your radio station. Fellows, keep it locked right here for the very best of the summer and sound… AMBER OC Okay, let’s do this. How many you want, two? HARVEY SLATER OCVO One. It’s not like I’m really… Don’t have the recipe, I just like, think all day of what I really want to, you know, eat and then I just throw it together. AMBER OC Because you’re ADD? HARVEY SLATER OCVO Yeah, well, kind of. RONNIE FRUGE OC You got any open charges? No sir. MALE INMATE 3 VO No, sir. RONNIE FRUGE OC That’s the only charge you’re doing time on? Yes sir. MALE INMATE 3 OC Yes, sir. RONNIE FRUGE VOOC As I’m asking him these questions, I’m going over his record, making sure he’s telling me the truth. You have a second degree battery. Was that part of that same deal? Yes sir. MALE INMATE 3 OC Yes, sir. RONNIE FRUGE OCVO It looks like it. If I know that he’s being less than truthful, I’m going to go into a more vigorous questioning. All right, no escapes, let’s talk about escapes. You ever tried to escape anywhere? Okay. RONNIE FRUGE VO I think that’s what happens in a lot of marriages these days, they drift apart by neglecting little needs of the other one, you know. JASON WHITTINGTON OCVO I get to sit right here and, and be a gun guard today. That’s Logan over on the other end. I watch his back. He watches my back. No one’s job is security. LOGAN CAMPBELL VOOC We’re here with these weapons… LOGAN CAMPBELL OCVO …it keeps someone from getting hurt or worst, you know, if something happened. So, we have to be paying attention and alert. I’ll run scenarios through my mind, “What would I do if this happened or if that happened?” Make sure I’m on my toes. JASON WHITTINGTON OC We got to stick together, if we don’t, you know, it could be trouble out here, because… HOST VO Warden Cain assigns guards to monitor rising waters on the prison’s perimeter. TIMOTHY LEONARD OCVO And then a lot of, a lot of rain water, melted snow, and it’s coming south. TIMOTHY LEONARD VOOC I live on B-Line. I packed up my stuff. You never know, something could happen. It’s a lot of water, you know. STEPHANIE ALLEN VOOC The water has been getting higher. Every day that we come back… STEPHANIE ALLEN OCVO …we leave and we come back, it’s always taking over the land. Once the water breaks, it will go over the levee and then go towards main prison. BURL CAIN VOOC Okay, back to the flood, back to the river. We’ve been seeing some big, gigantic alligators. Darrel, you saw a great, big one at the front gate. How big you think he was? MALE VOICE 15 VO He was at least 12 feet. BURL CAIN VOOC That’s incredible. Pretty bad. HOST VO The giant gators not only pose a threat to inmates and guards, they could also cause serious damage to the levee system, that’s protecting the prison against the raging Mississippi. BURL CAIN VOOC We hope we don’t have any big gators, the main thing is… WARDEN BURL CAIN BURL CAIN OCVO …burrow into the levees. That could be bad. That’s why we’re patrolling the levee, watching for that. We killed a lot of hogs that were rooting on the levee, wild feral hogs. Armadillos, it’s a shame, but we shoot all of them. Anything that can burrow in that levee, we get rid of it. FEMALE VOICE 3 VO …gate WC one. MALE VOICE 16 VO WC one. HOST VO But the threat of gators won’t keep Cathy from doing her part. If the water’s to be kept at bay, everyone has to pitch in. CATHY FONTENOT VOOC This feels like my second born. CATHY FONTENOT OC There you go. CATHY FONTENOT VOOC We just have to work together and do the best that we can. CATHY FONTENOT VO Watch your head. HOST VO Cathy is helping a group of trustees protect the prison’s perimeter. CATHY FONTENOT VOOC These are the guys that, you know, are going to respond to a crisis. They really have taken an investment in this property and are trying to save it. Because they know realistically that they’re going to be here forever. MALE INMATE 8 VOOC Everybody’s scared that the levee might break and we’ll be flooded out. I’m kind of worried myself, you know. I mean, this here is my home. I’ll probably spend the rest of my life right here. MALE INMATE 8 OCVO I feel safe here. You know, I would rather be here living than out on the street dead. JOE LAMARTINIERE OCVO It’s a pretty big task, when you’re figuring out where to put them at. You got to figure out how many buses it takes. You got to figure how many officers. JOE LAMARTINIERE VOOC You got to plan every little detail and you got to prepare for anything that can happen. Because we don’t want nobody to get left behind and we definitely don’t want anybody to die. HOST VO But most inmates just want to know what lies ahead. LENNY NICHOLAS OCVO What’s going to happen to me? How long am I going to have to live in a tent? Where I’m going to live? How I’m going to eat? Am I only going to be able to shower one a week? I mean, we’re in an emergency situation, that happens. I went through the Katrina situation and MALE INMATE 9 VOOC I went through the Katrina situation and… lost everything I owned, and a lot of friends passed away and I’m hoping nothing like that takes place here. I just want to be safe. MALE INMATE 9 OCVO …lost everything I owned, and a lot of friends passed away, and I’m hoping nothing like that takes place here. I just want to be safe. HOST VO Across the farm, trustee inmates who work on the range crew respond to Warden Cain’s orders to move all animals to higher ground. MALE IN BLUE SHIRT OC Come on, bull. HOST VO They scramble to create a safe haven for Angola’s 6200 head of cattle. MALE VOICE 16 VO All right! MALE INMATE 10 OCVO We’re building a fence. We’re making a new bull pasture. I’m trying to clean all this underbrush out. It’s hot and everybody knows it’s hot. Work’s hard, but you going to work. You got to work. Nothing’s free in life. HARVEY SLATER VOOC Today’s going to be all strictly business. I mean, you pee before you leave, because you don’t stop nowhere, you know. HARVEY SLATER VOOC Anytime you take a prisoner from this environment and you bring him on the streets, you’re looking at revenge, escape, sometimes they just want to do something to be recognized, you know. They want to go out with a bang, kind of thing, you know? HOST VO And the situation isn’t looking good. TIMOTHY LEONARD VOOC It’s never been this high in history. TIMOTHY LEONARD OC This is the highest in history right now. TIMOTHY LEONARD VOOC What we got, two weeks ago this was dry. HOST VO The rising waters aren’t just affecting inmates. MALE VOICE 16 VO Ready for them? MALE OFFICER 31 OC Yeah, bring them on. HOST VO With the Mississippi River no longer a threat, Warden Cain opens up the gates to the evacuated prisoners. MALE OFFICER 31 OC One and two, Mike! One and two! MALE OFFICER 32 VOOC Watching the gate, making sure the inmates don’t try to rush the gate and come back out of the gate before they’re put back down on lockdown in their tiers. MALE OFFICER 32 VOOC The threat of the flood is pretty much over with, so daily operations can start back. MALE OFFICER 33 OC We’re going to try to get life back to normal as possible. MALE OFFICER 34 VO 36. MALE OFFICER 35 VO 33. HOST VO After four weeks in dorm housing, Travis is ready to shed the six by eight solitary cell that he calls home. TRAVIS JOHNSON VOOC I’m really trying to get back in population. It gives me physical and mental goals of wanting to stay out of trouble. It’s a lot of questions you got to really ask yourself. “Can I do better,” you know? “Can I be better?” This is the road I’m supposed to travel now.