POST-KATRINA HORROR STORY

The ABC's Leigh Sales reports from Katrina country:

Before I went back to my room, I made a stupid decision. I had no mobile phone signal at the hotel and I needed to do a live cross for The World Today. I decided to drive back down the road to see if I could find somewhere with a signal. I found one. When I finished the cross, it was now dark and I realised I was in violation of the military curfew and that it wasn't safe to be out. Worse than that, it dawned on me with horror that because there was no electricity and everything was pitch black, I couldn't see the buildings on the sides of the road and I couldn't identify my hotel in the dark. I started driving back in the direction I'd come but then realised I'd been driving too long and that I must have passed it.

This was the only time I truly panicked. I'd left everything except my purse and phone in the hotel room and now I couldn't find it. I started to get a wobbly chin and achy throat but I calmed down by forcing myself to think about what was memorable about the hotel. I recalled it had a verandah on the front. A few kilometres down the road I recognised the outline of the building in the dark - just. I didn't break curfew after that.

If Ms Sales is typical of the Aussies going abroad these days, it's no wonder a bunch of 'em got stranded in New Orleans begging to be rescued. I mean, the stupid woman didn't take a torch and couldn't work out to use the car's headlights to identify her hotel. Jeez, I'm surprised the ABC lets her out without a safety-line attached. On the other hand, maybe they're trying to get rid of her.