When she was finally moved to a makeshift medical centre next door, the former pharmacy assistant found herself helping the sick and infirm while babies were being born on the ground next to her.

Speaking from her Leven home today, Elise said she had lost all faith in the US government after their “inadequate” handling of the situation and that she was glad to be out of the “horrible mess”.

A former pupil of Balwearie High School in Kirkcaldy, where she is originally from, Elise spent the summer working at a camp in Maine and was spending time travelling around the States before returning home.

She and her companions reached New Orleans three days before the hurricane struck and were staying in a hostel.

The day after she arrived notices appeared on the walls of her accommodation advising people to start stockpiling food and water, and the following day they were told they were being bussed to the Superdome.

“We only had three large containers of water and a packet of crackers between us, because we didn’t know what to expect,” said Elise.

“I thought they were blowing everything out of proportion because I’d been in a hurricane in Florida before, but it was nothing compared to this.

“When we got to the Dome the army was there with police and helicopters and it felt like we were going to war.”

Elise said the place descended into chaos when the storm hit and the roof started to come off the stadium, but that was nothing compared to the conditions endured by the crowds of people over the coming few days.

“We had to stay inside because of the floods and it was just awful, absolutely horrendous,” she said.

“The water and food had stopped, the electricity had gone off and there was no air conditioning. The smell was just vile, disgusting.

“There were reports that people had been raped and people were being stabbed. We heard one man had lost his home and his family and threw himself off the balcony.

“Because there was no sanitation, I stopped eating and drinking the little we had so I wouldn’t have to go to the toilet. That’s how bad it was.”

Elise and other non-American citizens were finally moved to the medical centre, but found conditions were no better.

“There was no sanitation and there was just a divider between people who were being operated on and everybody else,” she said.

“There was no clean running water and there were drug addicts, babies being born and people being stabbed.

“A few of us started helping out with the old people-we were feeding them and bathing them and taking them to the bathroom. They were absolutely petrified.

“One old woman had been sleeping in her wheelchair for three days and she desperately needed a bed.”

Elise’s group were eventually escorted from the building to a nearby hotel where, after four hours, they were taken by bus to Dallas, Texas, to catch a flight home.

“When I got off the plane I hadn’t slept for 60 hours. After that experience it felt so good to get home.

“It’s so surreal to look back on it, but I think I’m lucky to have my life.”