Water Bed

Louann Mims, a 78-year-old retiree, planned to leave her New Orleans house before the floodwaters rose, but then the water came rushing in and she was trapped in her house for eight days on the only thing that would float: her extra firm Sterns and Foster mattress. Ms. Mims talks with Alex Kotlowitz, the author of The Other Side of the River, Never a City So Real, There Are No Children Here, and other books. (10 minutes)