Rescuers find 76-year-old survivor in New Orleans
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-18 10:58

Incredibly, Martin — who ran out of his gallon-and-a-half water supply on Thursday — was able to walk out of the house with just a bit of assistance.

"He was weak, very tired, but he was able to speak, able to stand," Fernandez said. "He was very relieved. He was very thirsty. He was in good spirits."

Martin was given water to drink, then taken to Ochsner Foundation Hospital, where nurse Jinny Resor said he was treated for dehydration. She said Martin had taken medication while he was trapped, but she wasn't sure what it was for.

In a brief telephone interview with The Associated Press late Friday night, Martin said he was feeling fine.

"So far, so good," he said.

As for his ordeal, his description was concise: "I was living in the attic for 16 days, and I was living off water."

The two rescuers who retrieved him are firefighters with a California-based FEMA team — J.D. Madden of Santa Clara and Eric Mijangos of Menlo Park.

"I don't know how much longer he could have went on without water," said Madden, 29.

Martin's family left before the storm, but he stayed to attend church, later took a nap and woke up to find that his home was filling with water, Madden said.

Martin only had time to grab some water and get to his attic, which he described as feeling like an oven during day-after-day of mid-90-degree heat that followed the storm. Madden said the heat in the attic might have been even worse, perhaps fatal, except for shade provided by a fallen tree.

Staff Sgt. Jason Randor, a military police officer with the Massachusetts National Guard, watched the rescue from another boat that was helping provide security for the search team. He recalled jubilant yells from the firefighters when they realized someone alive was inside.