NEW ORLEANS — The phone call lasted just long enough to break Bridgette Medley's heart.
Medley, her husband and her 3-year-old daughter had sought shelter from Hurricane Katrina at a downtown hotel. Water seeped through the ceiling and wind made the building shudder as they slept on the hard floor of a ballroom. But they were safe.
Her siblings and parents were not.
Like about 50,000 other residents of the city, they had ignored the mayor's mandatory evacuation order and elected to ride out the storm at the family home in the Eighth Ward, a neighborhood of shotgun houses, railroad tracks and industrial canals on the city's east side.
By 7 a.m. Monday, the water started rising. Medley's siblings and parents pulled down the stairs to the attic and climbed up. At 7:57 a.m., Medley's 48-year-old sister, Stephany Johnson, managed to get through on her cellphone.
"She was panicking," Medley said. "The water was up to their ankles in the house and rising fast -- in a house that is 5 feet off the ground to start.
"She said, 'I love you.' " Medley struggled to keep the tears from spilling out. "And then she said, 'We're going to die.' "
Then the line went dead.
Throughout the day, the two sisters maintained a frantic, frustrating conversation in spurts and stops.
Hundreds of families found themselves in a similar situation, divided by choice, chance and fate. Authorities said that by nightfall, 200 people in the city were stranded on rooftops, and more were trapped in attics awaiting rescue. Scores more in surrounding towns were in similar straits.
People sought help from one of the only radio stations on the air: WWL. They called to explain how their friend or relative got trapped in the attic or on the roof, then provided addresses and cross streets in case rescuers were listening.
"Please, sir. We don't know what else to do," said a woman who gave her name as Betty. "It's my sister. They're stuck on the roof. And her two kids are there."
"We'll see if we can't get some response over there," said the radio host, Bob Del Giorno. "We can't guarantee."
Seconds later: "Let's go to Yvonne."
"My daughter is on the roof!" Yvonne said. "She was in the attic until 10 and then she broke through the roof and climbed up there."
"Maybe we can help," Del Giorno said. "Hopefully."
Others waited by the phone. There was nothing else they could do.
