Almost three weeks after Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans, a 39-year-old man was found alive on Sunday in one of the hardest-hit areas and apologized to rescuers for his dirty home, Reuters reported. Reyne Johnson and his dog were discovered in his small house in an impoverished neighborhood in eastern New Orleans when rescuers knocked on the door and he answered, said Oregon National Guardsman Staff Sgt. Robert Andrade. Andrade said the rescue teams had been leaving food and water in front of the house because they suspected someone was there, but they had never before received a response. Johnson moved stiffly and appeared disoriented as he walked from the home, which was in area severely flooded when New Orleans' protective levees were breached by Katrina's storm surge on Aug. 29. But he told a reporter he was OK. "I'm doing a little better now," he said. Rescuers said it appeared that the man stayed in his flooded home for so long because he was afraid to come out. "Everybody just scared me," Johnson said. "Since the flood, I was sitting there." --more 2340 Local Time 2040 GMT
