Jamie Trout, at the centre of one of the most devastating natural disasters of modern times, has seen gun and knife-wielding thugs, crack addicts and an arrest for child rape.
The city was further rocked today by a series of massive riverfront explosions.
Jamie, 22, of Newlands Avenue, Barnes, was first caught up in the horror of Hurricane Katrina while in Miami, and had to barricade himself in a hostel as the disaster hit.
Jamie then moved on to New Orleans, oblivious to the fact that the storms were following him.
He continued his travelling until Katrina hit – and was forced to seek shelter with thousands of others at the sports arena.
He has been keeping a diary of the terrifying ordeal in a refuge that has turned to a den of drugs, violence and racial abuse.
Jamie, who graduated from Liverpool University with a degree in business studies last year, said: "It was like something out of Lord of the Flies – one minute everything is calm and civil, the next it descends into chaos."
In one diary entry, he said: "A man has been arrested for raping a seven-year-old in the toilet. This place is hell, I feel sick.
"The smell is horrendous, there are toilets overflowing and people everywhere."
Jamie had been coaching football to disabled youngsters as part of the Camp America scheme.
At home in Sunderland, mam and dad Pamela, 51, and Dennis, 56, are waiting by their telephone for news of their son's safety as the situation worsens by the hour.
Pamela, a sales manager, said: "I've spoken to him – he's grabbing people's mobiles when he can. He was in Miami when the hurricane hit and had to barricade himself into the hostel. That was scary enough for us.
"He sent an email to say 'I'm safe but don't worry. I'm going to New Orleans'. We then got another email on Sunday night to say the hurricane was about to hit there, and the situation was serious and he was being evacuated to the dome.
"I believed he was safe but I spoke to him last night and now we are just frantic. We just want him home."
Jamie, whose brother Jonathan, 28, works for the BBC in London, said: "We were in Miami for three or four days when Katrina first hit. We rode that storm out and then decided to go to New Orleans. We didn't realise the storm was heading that way."
At one point, up to 30 British students who had gathered in the dome were so terrified when the power went down they set up a makeshift security cordon.
Jamie has seen crack cocaine being used in the toilets, youngsters breaking into soft drink machines and men brawling.
Speaking from the refuge, he said: "There was a lot of heat from the people in there, people shouting racial abuse about us being white. The army warned us to keep our bags close to us and grip them tight."