A Rush of Stories

"I was in the attic for four days, with no food, water, nothing. Just roaches crawling all over me. And I seen a rat, too. I had to use a board to hold my head above the water, 'cause it was up to my neck. So help me, I thought I was going to die."

- Bernice Jones, 64, who finally managed to pry her way out of the attic and was taken by boat to the Superdome.

"They wanted to take my grandmother to Iowa. She's 90 years old and has Alzheimer's. What was she gonna do in Iowa?"

- Donald McCray, 52, who is looking after his grandmother, Susie Hudson, in a shelter in Gonzales, La.

"A huge percentage of the people who were left behind didn't have a way out. It makes me sick that our plan for them didn't work very well."

- Dr. Erin Brewer of Louisiana's Office of Public Health.
Lafayette, La.