The question is what I wanted to do with the new life God has given me. This is the mission I want to take on.

Venice, Italy, survives 365 days out of every year in water; New Orleans can survive a few days of water if it has to.

And if citizens of New Orleans who are really contemplating coming back heard that we're really intent upon making the place secure again - regardless of whether the levees held or not - then I think a rebuilding process would really take shape.

If you're watching an ad on TV showing a drug that could save your life and you can't afford it, you have a right to be resentful. People are angry about not having access to medicine.

The immediate, highest priority need, in my humble opinion, is that we build quickly the interim structures that can channel water away from population and businesses in the New Orleans area.

Death is the prerequisite to resurrection, the new life God intends.