But it was in mid-week and at midday that Mr Taylor crawled home, with the dog but without the van, with a graze on his chin and his trousers torn, covered in mud and with a thumping headache.

ECONOMIST: Robert Taylor

The entire area near the parish courthouse has taken on the appearance of a military camp with trucks, generators and Humvees, all covered with mud.

NPR: Cameron Parish Hit Hard by Hurricane Rita

In the pitch darkness, in the middle of a field, Harmon found the baby boy covered with mud and debris.

CNN: President tours Tennessee storm area

"You get to take a picture covered in mud with your T-shirt and you look like you've gone through the war, " says Jim Thornton, president-elect of the National Athletic Trainers' Association.

WSJ: Office Workers Run Extreme Obstacle Courses