Residents fend for themselves in small towns

(6 Sep 2005) SHOTLIST 1. Mid view of truck on top of house 2. Close up/pull out to airplane on top of house 3. Wide view of destruction 4. Mid view of destroyed house/pan left to wooden debris 5. SOUNDBITE (English): Thomas Stone, Fire Chief of St. Bernard Parish "Q: How bad are things in this area? A: Devastated, everything is gone. Everybody lost everything. All of our people lost their homes, their cars." 6. Mid view/push in of car on top of house 7. Close up of axe hole in roof/pull out to house under water 8. Mid view of elderly men with bicycles 9. Close up of elderly man tying package to bike 10. Mid view of elderly man on bike 11. SOUNDBITE (English): Burley Watson, Evacuee of St. Bernard Parish "In my house, I lost everything and when I say everything I mean everything. It's right up here by the red light, second red light. 217 West Union, you look down there they got a little boat in the yard, one block. So, I've lost everything in the house. All the pictures, everything so it is best if I just rebuild again." 12. Various interiors of flooded home 13. Wide view of destruction STORYLINE: As thousands of rescue workers and volunteers rushed to New Orleans to evacuate city residents, people in surrounding neighbourhoods were forced to pick up the pieces from the destruction of Hurricane Katrina by themselves. Rescue workers arrived to St. Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans, six days after putrid flood waters swamped homes and left cars, boats and even planes as lawn decorations. St. Bernard Fire Chief Thomas Stone said the neighbourhood was "devastated." Stone said "everybody lost everything." Katrina's swift winds and sudden surge of high water trapped many residents on the second stories of roof tops, and left them scrounging for food and water for almost a week. Those who did escape were forced to axe their way out of their homes and walk several miles to reach neighbouring cities. Burley Watson tied his last remaining personal affects to his bike. Watson, whose house was completed destroyed, was getting ready to bike to Slidell to meet his mother. "I lost everything and when I say everything I mean everything," Watson said as he fought back tears hidden behind large black sun glasses. Watson said, "it is best if I just rebuild again." Many of Watson's friends and neighbours shared the same sentiment, as beautiful colonial homes were left completely bare. Although Watson did not see any bodies, many other evacuees said the dead were taken to evacuation centres and jail houses. St. Bernard Parish authorities reported that they have 100 bodies, but believe they will have many more once the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team reports the official body count. KEYWORD - HURRICANE KATRINA You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/2280cf8572b83c0f341cdebabb434693 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork