HoustonChronicle.com - We found the survivors most readers wanted to know about

HoustonChronicle.com - We found the survivors most readers wanted to know about: "Nita LaGarde had weathered big hurricanes before, and the 89-year-old Louisiana native saw no reason she couldn't ride out this one. She had broken her hip last year, but she still wasn't all that worried. Her 20-year neighbor and devoted friend, Earnestine Dangerfield, would be there for her.

As the storm's fury bore down on New Orleans and their Ninth Ward-area duplex Aug. 29, Dangerfield, 60, eyed the rising waters, knowing she had to do something fast. She also had her 5-year-old granddaughter, Tanisha Belvin, to worry about, and another neighbor's two-story house seemed the safest refuge. Friends helped carry LaGarde through neck-deep water."