Emotional first-person accounts tell of the destruction faced by one parish on August 29, 2005, and the days that followed. While attention and resources were focused on New Orleans, survival became the ultimate goal of the neighboring parish of St. Bernard. An unprecedented 99 percent of the parish was submerged in water and almost all buildings were destroyed. Each account is filled with the heartwrenching reality of a community lost and the strength it took to rise again.