The Thunderdome - An on-the-scene report from Kyle in New Orleans

Press credentials are the golden ticket to New Orleans. They can even get you on the special emergency access route into the city. We returned to the I-610 freeway to observe rescue operations and hopefully find out some details about what's being uncovered.

We were fortunate enough to have an extended conversation with the Division Chief of the Riverside, California Fire Department as his men were going through detox. His day starts at 5am and usually ends around midnight. His mission is to systematically go from house to house in the flooded neighborhoods, recover the dead and encourage some of the 5,000-10,000 living, who have remained in New Orleans, to leave. On average, his crew has been rescuing 8 people, leaving 7 and uncovering 1 dead body in any given day. The chief spoke candidly about the tragedy of those denying rescue. He said that they would mark the house accordingly and expect to come back later to find them dead.

The California fire department official we were talking to suddenly changed topics to point out the idiot fan boat coming down next to the opposing ramp. The reason for this was because the boat driver was foolishly spraying the toxic water into the air for all to breathe in. The nose of the vessel was riding up high on the water as the pilot revved the engine and toxins transformed into an aerosol form. He encouraged us to get pictures of this and send them to him as evidence of reckless riding on the water. The chief concluded our conversation by saying that a body was floating nearby and we didn't even know it. He then pointed out to the neighborhoods ahead and said that bodies were sitting on top of the water all over. The Riverside team had to constantly drive past one body during their work on Saturday and the chief said he did his best to not look at it.

The tip from the official prompted me to scan the immediate area and there it was. The floating corpse sat just off of Humanity Drive caught on the street post. It was swaying back and forth with the current. I had never seen a dead body before. I put aside my shock and snapped the photo a few times.

This is New Orleans.