Rescue In New Orleans

From the Houston Chronicle, an interestring story of a California team's rescue of a person left found in his home during search and rescue efforts in New Orleans.



'Like a ghost,' man nearly left for dead opens his eyes

NEW ORLEANS — This was just another body in the growing number of bodies that they encounter every day.


A human foot arching at an odd angle was visible through the front window of a locked and dark home.

The National Guard team of searchers was about to call in a "DB" (dead body) at 1927 Lopez St. in the Broadmoor district when Lt. Frederick Fell decided to investigate.

In the last few days, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has ordered searchers NOT to break into homes. They are supposed to look in through a window and knock on the door. If no one cries out for help, they are supposed to move on. If they see a body, they are supposed to log the address and move on. The morticians will remove the deceased later.

But Fell broke the rules and ordered his men to bash open the door, launching a series of events that would save a man's life and revitalize California Task Force 5 from Orange County, Calif. In the last two days, the 80-member task force had identified seven dead bodies in the same neighborhood, and they had rescued no one.