 THE SCOTT family booked a last-minute break in New Orleans, only to be plunged into a nightmare. Once Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf coast they, along with thousands of others, became caught up in a minute-by-minute battle for survival, first against the elements and then the indifference of the US authorities. After looters broke into the Ramada Hotel where they were staying, Ged Scott waded waist-deep through the filthy water to barricade the hotel's doors. "It was like wading through an open sewer," he said "It reeked to high heaven and made you want to vomit. Outside, I could see bodies floating in the water." Bus driver Mr Scott, 36, his wife Sandra, 37, and their seven-year-old son Ronan, from Wallasey, were unable to flee New Orleans ahead of the storm as they had not taken driving licences with them on holiday, and decided to remain in their hotel after being warned the Superdome would not be safe. Safely back home after flying into Manchester Airport yesterday morning, Mr Scott reserved his strongest criticism for the US authorities for their "horrendous" handling of the crisis, saying he and other guests trapped in a hotel were offered no help for days. He said: "People have died in New Orleans because they couldn't get them out quickly enough. They would not let them leave of their own accord. Instead, they were herded into mass transit places like the Superdome." After weathering the storm on Sunday night, they believed they were past the worst and would be able to fly home from an airport near New Orleans, Mr Scott said: "We went to bed on Monday night thinking 'Fine, not too much of a problem'. "For some reason, Sandra woke up in the middle of the night and looked out of the back window and she said it was like Venice in America. The flood had come and it was getting higher. "It was crisis time in the hotel." Mr Scott said he had ripped wires attached to speakers from the walls of the flooded hotel bar and tied tables and chairs together as makeshift barricades. | 
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