CHIEF METEOROLOGIST MARGARET
ORR.
IN THE CITY'S TIME OF NEED,
WE CAME TOGETHER AND GOT THE JOB
DONE.
SCOTT: NOT A SINGLE NEW ORLEANS
FIREFIGHTER DESERTED THE CITY OF
NEW ORLEANS WHEN HURRICANE
KATRINA HIT.
ADRIANNA: THEY RESCUED
THOUSANDS, PUT OUT COUNTLESS
FIRES, AND HELPED TO REBUILD THE
CITY.
BUT FOR ONE NEW ORLEANS
FIREFIGHTER, HIS ACTIONS IN THE
HOURS AFTER THE STORM, HAVE
HELPED THE CITY SECURE BILLIONS
MORE IN RECOVERY DOLLARS.
SCOTT: ANCHOR RANDI ROUSSEAU HAS
HIS STORY AND WHAT HE DID THAT
HAS HIS FELLOW FIREFIGHTERS
CALLING HIM "THE BILLION DOLLAR
MAN."
IT WAS KIND OF A SURREAL
EXPERIENCE.
YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT I DON'T
THINK ANYTHING
COULD EVER
PREPARE SOMEONE TO GO THROUGH
AND SEE.
RANDI:
HE WAS A ROOKIE WITH THE
NEW ORLEANS FIRE DEPARTMENT AS
HURRICANE KATRINA ROARED THROUGH
THE CRESCENT CITY.
STATIONED HIGH ABOVE LAKE VIEW
HE HUNKERED DOWN AS THE STORM
CAME AND WENT.
IT WAS WHAT HE SOON SAW THAT
WOULD STICK WITH HIM FOREVER.
ONE OF THE GUYS CAME FROM
DOWNSTAIRS AND SAID, HEY, THE
WATER IS COMING UP REALLY FAST.
RANDI: HE PICKED UP A PAIR OF
BINOCULARS AND BEGAN SCANNING
THE LEVY WHEN HE SAW THE
UNTHINKABLE.
[INDISCERNIBLE]
I COULD SEE THE WATER WAS
COMING THROUGH THE LEVY.
I SAID, CAPTAIN, I THINK THE
LEVEE BROKE
OVER HERE.
ISSA, MAN, I THINK YOU ARE
RIGHT.
I SAW WATER POURING THROUGH
.
-- I SAID, MAN, I THINK YOU ARE
RIGHT.
I IMMEDIATELY RADIOED IT IN.
I KNEW IT WAS GOSPEL.
I TOLD THE MAYOR'S OFFICE.
I KNEW THERE WAS NOTHING WE
COULD DO, BUT THAT AMOUNT OF
WATER COMING INTO THE CITY
THROUGH A BRIEF OF THAT -- A
BREACH OF THAT MAGNITUDE, IT WAS
GOING TO BE DIFFICULT TO STOP
IT.
WE BEGAN MAKING PREPARATIONS TO
MOVE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ACROSS
THE RIVER AND AS MANY PEOPLE AS
POSSIBLE.
RANDI: BUT NOT BEFORE KING AND
HIS COMPANY'S SPRING INTO
ACTION, GRABBING BOATS AND
RESCUING AS MANY PEOPLE AS THEY
COULD.
THERE WERE PEOPLE I PORCHES
IN WAIST DEEP WATER, PEOPLE
HANGING OUT OF ADDICTS
--ATTICS.
RANDI: AT
THIS TIME WAS THE
WATER STILL FLOWING?
YES, VERY RAPID AND STRONG.
RANDI: HIS ACTIONS AND
WHAT HE
SAW THAT DAY CONTINUES TO HAVE
AN IMPACT ON THE CRESCENT READY.
IT EVEN EARNED HIM THE NICKNAME
THE BILLION DOLLAR MAN AMONG
FIREFIGHTERS.
THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS WERE
STILL SAYING THE LE
VEE DID NOT
OVERTOP.
THEY DID NOT KNOW.
THE FORENSIC EVIDENCE
LED THEM
TO BELIEVE IT OVERTOPPED.
WHEN WE FIRST SAW IT WAS A 4 TO
6 INCH BRE
ACH.
IT COLLAPSED, I WOULD SAY ABOUT
2:00 IN THE AFTERNOON.
RANDI: BECAUSE OF HIS EYEWITNESS
ACCOUNT THAT THE LEVEE
BREACHED
AND TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS,
THE CITY GOT BILLIONS MORE IN
ASSISTANCE.
IF IT HAD NOT AND FOR HIM
SEEING THAT, WE MIGHT NOT HAVE
GOTTEN THAT FUNDING.
I AM JUST GLAD I PUT MY
CONTACTS IN THAT MORNING.
RANDI: HE IS HUMBLED BY THE
ACCOLADES.
HE IS JUST HAPPY HE COULD
RESPOND IN THE CITY'S GREATEST
TIME OF NEED.
IT MAKES ME FEEL GOOD TO KNOW
WE WERE THERE TO WITNESS IT, BUT
I FEEL ANY FIREMAN WOULD'VE DONE
THE SAME THING.
RANDI: ON YOUR SIDE, I'M RANDI
ROUSSEAU, WDSU NEWS.
SCOTT: