"My neighbourhood is under water.

There are corpses all over the city. The stores are being looted.
All residents of New Orleans are now refugees.

Now I have a taste of what people in war ravaged countries go through.
Please pray for us. My future is murky.

My children cannot grasp the scope of this catastrophe.
My friends are missing. Take me away from this madness."

IHSAN MAHDI, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA