Hollywood battles Katrina

Film

13:30 07 September 2005

John Travolta became a real-life hero when he courageously flew into the Louisiana region devastated by Hurricane Katrina to deliver five tons of food to victims.

The Hollywood actor, who is a fully qualified pilot, flew his private jet into the disaster zone to hand out desperately needed aid.

Then Travolta, who was accompanied by his actress wife Kelly Preston, made a brief tour of New Orleans, the city most affected by the horrifying disaster.

The 'Pulp Fiction' star is the latest American celebrity to travel to the region to assist the relief effort since the hurricane struck at the end of August.

Sean Penn desperately tried to help those stranded by the devastating floods by launching a boat down the water-logged streets of New Orleans.

However, his attempt to help victims encountered problems when his boat sprung a leak and he was forced to scoop out water with a red plastic cup.

Penn later managed to bring several people to dry land.

He said: "I'm doing whatever I can do to help. There's a lot of people out there. There's bodies everywhere. We could only do so many houses."

Meanwhile, Matthew McConaughey, who travelled to New Orleans, allowed stranded hurricane victims to use his mobile phone to contact relatives.

(c) BANG Media International