We got into the crew car, emptied out the car we had to abandon and left for the hotel. We kept hearing that the water was still rising. We had had a difficult enough time getting to where we were, how could we possibly make it back to the hotel?
We drove straight on I-10 back towards the city, the ramps were all flooded higher than before. There were people everywhere on this portion of I-10, it was an elevated highway and it was the only place to escape the water. We saw one of our crews and stopped to ask them how to get back to the hotel. They gave us very complicated directions but Bruce thought he had a handle on them. We left them and as Bruce started doubting himself we came upon two police officers. We stopped to ask them directions but they bascially told us any way we went was impassible. So we went back to where the other crew was and huddled.
It was now about 730pm and it would be dark soon. Some of our cohorts at the hotel were reporting looting and gunfire. One of the Atlanta producers called headquarters on the satellite phone. I finally started receiving emails on my blackberry and emailed to an assignment editor that we may have a dangerous situation on our hands. We were the only ones on the highway with any food and water.
Headquarters told us to leave the city. We piled into their vehicles and tried to drive west on I-10. We west for several miles until we were blocked by water. We then turned around and drove east, again, until we were blocked by water. We then tried 610, it was blocked by water. It was now dusk. We decided our only option was to go back to the hotel. The drive off the highway was nerve wracking. None of us knew what to expect. The closest we were going to be able to get to the hotel was two blocks away, we’d have to walk the rest in waist-high water.
Dominic parked his car on the sidewalk, the others did the same. We put our things in plastic bags and trudged through the water not expecting to see the cars — which were full of thousands of dollars of equipment — again. In a single file line we walked in the water to the hotel. We made it, wet but safe. I got to my room changed and went back out to where the rest of the team had gathered to drink. We needed it.
I had now been up for 25 hours but was too unnerved to even feel sleepy. I called my mom to tell her I was safe, she hadn’t heard from me in two days.