Weblogs: Every few minutes, a new plea for help arrived. The sister of a doctor trapped in a hospital said patients were on the verge of dying.
A frantic woman stranded in a Holiday Inn said authorities couldn't rescue her because looters prowled the area.
And a baseball executive asked whether anyone could help find a 1940s and 50s Boston Red Sox ace who had gone missing during Hurricane Katrina.
Hundreds in all, they are posted on the website of the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper. They are desperate real-time calls by family or friends of people stranded across the submerged city, looking for someone - anyone - to respond.
In the aftermath of the September 11th, 2001, attacks in New York city, anxious family and friends posted fliers of the missing on shop windows and walls, and the carts of the homeless.
These New Orleans notices are the 2005 equivalent of personal Maydays sent out to the world about situations that were becoming more dire by the minute.
Large numbers of the pleas were answered, some with dramatic rescues. Other postings on the site (www.nola.com) stand as mute testimony to the frustrating and deadly delays in getting help to those who needed it.
Still others display uncommon generosity. One woman posted a message saying "Car Available Uptown", giving its location and where to find the key.
The following are the most compelling stories with updates after reporters tried to follow up on their outcomes:
Begging for Baptist Hospital!!!
From: Rachelle King
Doctors, patients and staff are stranded at Baptist Hospital (extended campus of Memorial Hospital). My brother, Dr Bryant King, is stranded there and has been sending occasional text messages to let us know the situation . . . He explained that management at the hospital decided to selectively withhold food and water from patients. Doctors are being forced to decide who gets to live and who will starve to death. The hospital is surrounded by eight feet of floodwater; there is no more electricity, food or water. Windows are broken out and people are starving. There has been very little press about this hospital, but conditions are deplorable and they need to be evacuated. My brother asked that we please get them out of there.
Update: Evacuations have taken place at the hospital, but Ms King has not heard whether her brother left. He may have stayed behind, she said. "That's the kind of doctor he is."
SOS My aunt needs someone to get her
From: David Mattio
I am in Michigan, but my aunt (Lee Livermore) is in an apartment in NO. She is a diabetic and cannot walk very well . . . She will die if no one gets her. I tried calling all kinds of emergency people but cannot get through. Please help her. Her phone is still working.
Update: Reached on Sunday in Michigan, Mr Mattio said he received a telephone message from a Coast Guard helicopter pilot that his aunt had been rescued, but he still had been unable to locate her to verify that she was indeed safe.
Missing and disabled at 2113 Munster in Meraux
From: Pam Gilchrist Necasie
[ When] I last spoke to my brother, they had water coming into their home from the roof vents. Next call, they had water rapidly rising from the ground up. My father is disabled and 65-years-old. He has long black hair, usually in a ponytail, missing front teeth. He is diabetic, has high blood pressure and other health issues.
Update: On Sunday, Ms Necasie finally heard from her father, who said he had been airlifted from the roof of his home last Monday along with Ms Necasie's brother and her brother's girlfriend. They spent five days in the New Orleans Superdome. When her father became sick, he was flown to a hospital in Tennessee. "He told me they flew in Al Gore's private plane, which was donated for the evacuation," Ms Necasie said. "He told me they were dirty, like they just walked out of a Tarzan movie. I'm crying now. I just want to hold my dad."
Teacher stranded, Gretna
From: Holly Hatten
My friend, Judy Harper, fifth-grade teacher . . . is stranded [ at an apartment building] at 1784 Carol Sue Ave. She had phone service until Thursday morning. She said there were eight people there in total, including three children (one of whom is three-months-old). She said they siphoned all available gasoline to fuel a generator hooked to a freezer. They were draining apartment hot water heaters for drinking water . . . They said mass looting is constant in the area and I fear for my friend Judy's life.
Update: Ms Hatten said on Sunday that she received a call from Ms Harper, who had fled the building with several others on foot after fearing an attack from armed looters who prowled the street. They flagged down a neighbour with gas in his car and they all fled the city.
Car available uptown
From: Anne Rolfes
Hello to anyone and everyone - I don't know if my car is underwater, but since it's uptown there's a good chance it isn't. It is unlocked with a key under the mat - a red Corolla at 507 Cherokee St and St Charles. It's in a driveway. If anyone needs it to get out, please go there!! There is a trunk in the back seat - throw it out and fit as many people as you can! The car has a spare on it, so if you make it to the highway, don't go too fast. Anne.
Update: As far as anyone knows, the car is still there.
Nine elderly ladies in uptown New Orleans need help
From: Diane Velasquez
Send someone please to rescue nine elderly ladies who stayed through the hurricane. They are almost out of water and crackers. They are located at 3615 St Charles Ave.
Update: Calls to Ms Velasquez on Sunday reached only an answering machine.
Somebody save my parents
From: Josh Cooley
My parents are stuck at 241 Harding St in Jefferson, La. Could somebody get them out of the city? They are running out of food and water!
Update: Mr Cooley heard from his parents on Saturday morning. They said they had abandoned their home and were trying to flee the city. Then the phone cut out.
HELP HELP HELP HELP!!!!!!
From: Norma Bailey
We are trying to get help to my father-in-law to see if he is still alive. We tried the Red Cross. We tried the VA, he is a vet and he is 73-years-old and on oxygen and we don't know if he is still alive. He needs medical attention but he has no phone or car. Can someone please help us? Would you please pass this information on to someone that can get him to a hospital please?
Update: Ms Bailey said she reached emergency personnel on Saturday, and they promised they would go to her father-in-law's address. She still had not heard by Sunday whether he had been rescued.
Searching for former Red Sox pitcher
From: Dick Bresciani
I am a VP of the Boston Red Sox. One of our ex-great people and pitchers, Mel Parnell, lives at 700 Turquoise St. We are unable to reach him by phone and are concerned. Is there any way you can contact him for us? This is my direct line. Thank you.
Update: Mr Bresciani said on Saturday that Parnell and his family had turned up safe in Atlanta and were with friends.
Child with Down syndrome stranded
From: David Decuir
Child with Down syndrome stranded at 1505 Gov Nicholls St, NO. There is also a 73-year-old woman who needs medical attention. The phone is still working in the house. Please help them now. God Bless.
Update: Connie Decuir said on Sunday that her mother and seven others, including the child with Down syndrome, were rescued by boat on Saturday by the Coast Guard and the Red Cross. "The worst times were the nights," Ms Decuir said. "They could hear the looters outside. They could hear the gunshots."
Trapped in Holiday Inn on Westbank
From: Shauntell Alexander
We are trapped in the Holiday Inn on the Westbank of Lafayette exit. We were told that we would not be rescued from this location due to the damage done on the Westbank by looters. This is not us. There are elderly people and small babies. We are in desperate need of food and water and the conditions are unsanitary. Please help us. You are our only hope.
Update: Ms Alexander's phone was out of order on Sunday.
Adopt a family
From: Bailey Tyler
Single professional female has room in my home for single female parent with small children in Tyler, Texas.
Update: Reached on Saturday, Ms Tyler said she had received numerous responses to her offer - not from evacuees, but from others offering to take them in. "They're all telling me to send on the names of people I can't accommodate," said the pharmacist. "There's a real groundswell of community here." - (LA Times-Washington Post service)