Britons describe Superdome horror

Charlotte (L) and Rebecca Scott were among the Britons flown home

Britons returning from hurricane-hit New Orleans have described the horrifying conditions inside the city's refugee-packed Superdome.

Will Nelson, 21, who spent five days in the stadium where up to 30,000 people took shelter from rising flood-water, described the situation as "chaos".

He said the atmosphere was "desperate" and "everyone was running out of food".

And Charlotte Scott, 19, said: "The smell was horrendous, you just wanted to throw up the whole time."

Mr Nelson told BBC News there were rumours of rapes and stabbings amidst the thousands packed into the stadium, as well as suicides.

'Lying in filth'

"I heard stories of violence. I heard people were getting stabbed, getting raped... a guy committed suicide," he said.

The Loughborough University graduate, who had been travelling in the US after working in Camp America, said: "There were mothers with their children lying in corridors in filth and the toilets and water stopped working.

"The smell was disgusting and there were old people just sitting down in the road as well as the sick."

Will Nelson said he saw children lying in filth in the stadium

He had been staying in a hostel in the city when he was told to evacuate to the stadium as Hurricane Katrina swept in from the Gulf of Mexico.

He said all of the foreign travellers in the Superdome had herded together for safety.

"There were 40 or 50 of us. The lads were on the outside and the girls were on the inside and we just made sure that we didn't leave any of our bags."

He said air force personnel had told them to stick together because it was not safe.

Charlotte Scott, from Reading, and her sister Rebecca, 20, were met by their parents at Gatwick after being evacuated from the Superdome.

Charlotte said: "Conditions in there were just horrible for anyone and everyone, most people just wanted to survive.

"Throughout the three days we just grouped together because none of us knew what we were in for. I saw a couple of people getting taken away by the Army and others were getting angry and gnarled up.

The situation inside the Superdome was described as desperate

"I can't express how bad it was."

Adam Friend, 21, of Exeter, ended up in the stadium after being unable to evacuate the city before the storm.

Speaking from Dallas, Texas, he told BBC News: "Me and my friend were touring America. We couldn't get out of New Orleans. Everything closed down on Saturday so we were stuck.

'Rumours flying around'

"We went to the Superdome to get some shelter and all hell broke loose in there. I wouldn't want my worst enemy to go through what we've had to go through in there."

Peter Henry, 20, who had also been in New Orleans after working in Camp America, also described appalling conditions.

"One of the girls had to help with a victim who got stabbed several times, which brought her quite close to breaking point," he said.

Jane Wheeldon, from Camarthen, was another survivor returning to the UK

"By Tuesday night you heard of some suicides, people had jumped from balconies, or people being pushed, there were all sorts of rumours flying around. I honestly didn't think I was going to wake up on Wednesday morning."

He said the international travellers did what they could to help others, such as fanning people with bits of cardboard, helping sweep up blood or holding fluid bags for the infirm.

He left on Friday and was bussed to Dallas, Texas, where he was met by his father Wayne, who had flown over from the UK to try and find his son.

Mr Henry said: "I just hope other people realise how big it is. I know it's made me stronger. I'm almost glad I did go through it because now if anything happens in the future I'll be able to understand it more."