Reporter's Notebook

Fox News' Correspondent Adam Housley is currently in New Orleans. On the Fox News website you can read his observations here.

Here is an excerpt:

Reporter's Notebook:
New Orleanians' Struggle for Survival
Commentary by Adam Housley

Tuesday Afternoon, Sept. 6:

He just wouldn't leave. Joe Green seemed adamant about getting back into his rowboat and maneuvering back down Elysian Fields Avenue to his home filled with 6 feet of stale, polluted, murky floodwater.

As we stood on an off-ramp of the 610 freeway, which was being used for a boat launch, Joe told me, "I can't leave my neighbor. He's 73 and won't come out."

The water in his home, his neighborhood, was a cesspool of garbage and junk and bodies and sewage. As a gust of stench filled my nose, I asked him how he could live in such horrific conditions.

Joe replied, "It's not so bad."

I knew his response wasn't heartfelt. There was a reason why Joe wouldn't leave.

He asked to use my cell phone, and somehow our call got through. On the other end was Joe's wife, Sadie. She was alive and well, living in a shelter in Houston. With that, Joe changed. His eyes welled up and he seemed satisfied.

I asked him if knowing his wife wouldn't come home to an empty house, and knowing she was alive and well made his decision different.

He let out a deep breath of relief and replied, "Yes."

With that, he got back into his canoe, told me thanks and goodbye, and headed down the street, intent on convincing his neighbor to leave.