Arton Nelson [AN] had just returned to New Orleans after serving four years in the U.S. Air Force. He didn’t evacuate because his girlfriend and her family was not going to evacuate New Orleans. He decided to stay in New Orleans with her and her family to protect her if anything bad would happen during the storm. AN stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown New Orleans with his girlfriend and her parents. A few days later Hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans area. The conditions in New Orleans after the storm worsened. The waters began to rise, windows in the hotel were blown out and there was no electricity. AN meet an older man, the older man asked Arton to help him get his belongs out of his hotel room. He felt compelled to help the man because he was older. He walked up to the older man’s room on the Sixth floor. When they entered the room the wind had blown out the windows. He lost contact with his girlfriend in the process of helping the older man. His girlfriend’s father decided to evacuate with his family and left the hotel after Mayor Nagin’s hurricane briefing. AN girlfriend couldn’t get through to his to cell phone to tell him that they were leaving and that he should leave with them. She wanted him to know that her father found out that the situation from the hurricane had worsened in New Orleans. His cell phone line wouldn’t ring out loud but she was able to leave a message. He was stranded in the hotel. AN used his military skills and training to survive these terrible conditions. The people were upset and afraid in the hotel. He used everything that he had learned in the military to keep them encouraged and with hope. His girlfriend attempted to reach him again and finally was able to get through to his cell phone. He answered the call and she urged him to get out of New Orleans and that her father had spoken with the Mayor and had decided to leave with his family but they couldn’t find him to tell him nor was able to get through to his cell phone. She gave him instructions how to drive out of the parking garage of the hotel to avoid the rising waters. AN attempted to follow the instructions that were given him but by the time he tried to leave the hotel the waters had risen so high that his car had flooded. He had to break out of the car to survive. He watched his car go down in the waters as he lost a lot of his possessions. AN managed to get a few important papers. A few days after the storm, Arton meets a pregnant woman and her three children in the hotel. She asked him to drive her car that was parked in the parking garage of the hotel as their means to evacuate the city. The woman was too scared to leave the hotel alone with her children because of all the things she heard was taking place at the Superdome, the shooting and carjacking. She trusted him enough to drive her although they were strangers. He believes that she trusted him because he told her and the people he met in the hotel that he had been in the U.S. Air Force and had recently returned home. They drove to the nearest town on Highway 59 and stopped in a local store where they bought toothbrushes and toothpaste to brush their teeth. AN met up with his family in Houston, Texas where he is residing since the storm. AN has plans to return to New Orleans and purchase a home after he graduates from the University of Texas.