New Orleans and Katrina...

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By BRETT MARTEL
Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Rescuers along the hurricane-ravaged Gulf
Coast pushed aside the dead to reach the living Tuesday in a race
against time and rising waters, while New Orleans sank deeper into
crisis and Louisiana's governor ordered storm refugees out of this
drowning city.
Two levees broke and sent water coursing into the streets of the
Big Easy a full day after New Orleans appeared to have escaped
widespread destruction from Hurricane Katrina. An estimated 80
percent of the below-sea-level city was under water, up to 20 feet
deep in places, with miles and miles of homes swamped.
"The situation is untenable," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said.
"It's just heartbreaking."
One Mississippi county alone said its death toll was at least
100, and officials are "very, very worried that this is going to
go a lot higher," said Joe Spraggins, civil defense director for
Harrison County, home to Biloxi and Gulfport.
Thirty of the victims in the county were from a beachfront
apartment building that collapsed under a 25-foot wall of water as
Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast with 145-mph winds. And Louisiana
officials said many were feared dead there, too, making Katrina one
of the most punishing storms to hit the United States in decades.
After touring the destruction by air, Mississippi Gov. Haley
Barbour said it is not of case of homes being severely damaged,
"they're simply not there. ... I can only imagine that this is
what Hiroshima looked like 60 years ago."
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said hundreds, if not thousands, of
people may still be stuck on roofs and in attics, and so rescue
boats were bypassing the dead.
"We're not even dealing with dead bodies," Nagin said.
"They're just pushing them on the side."
The flooding in New Orleans grew worse by the minute, prompting
the evacuation of hotels and hospitals and an audacious plan to
drop huge sandbags from helicopters to close up one of the breached
levees. At the same time, looting broke out in some neighborhoods,
the sweltering city of 480,000 had no drinkable water, and the
electricity could be out for weeks.
With water rising perilously inside the Superdome, Blanco said
the tens of thousands of refugees now huddled there and other
shelters in New Orleans would have to be evacuated.
She asked residents to spend Wednesday in prayer.
"That would be the best thing to calm our spirits and thank our
Lord that we are survivors," she said. "Slowly, gradually, we
will recover; we will survive; we will rebuild."
A helicopter view of the devastation over the New Orleans area
revealed people standing on black rooftops baking in the sunshine
while waiting for rescue boats. A row of desperately needed
ambulances were lined up on the interstate, water blocking their
path. Roller coasters jutted out from the water at a Six Flags
amusement park. Hundreds of inmates were seen standing on a highway
because the prison had been flooded.
Sen. Mary Landrieu quietly traced the sign of the cross across
her head and chest as she looked out at St. Bernard Parish, where
only roofs peaked out from the water.
"The whole parish is gone," Landrieu said.
All day long, rescuers in boats and helicopters pulled out
shellshocked and bedraggled flood refugees from rooftops and
attics. The Coast Guard said it has rescued 1,200 people by boat
and air, some placed shivering and wet into helicopter baskets.
They were brought by the truckload into shelters, some in
wheelchairs and some carrying babies, with stories of survival and
of those who didn't make it.
"Oh my God, it was hell," said Kioka Williams, who had to hack
through the ceiling of the beauty shop where she worked as
floodwaters rose in New Orleans' low-lying Ninth Ward. "We were
screaming, hollering, flashing lights. It was complete chaos."
Frank Mills was in a boarding house in the same neighborhood
when water started swirling up toward the ceiling and he fled to
the roof. Two elderly residents never made it out, and a third was
washed away trying to climb onto the roof.
"He was kind of on the edge of the roof, catching his breath,"
Mills said. "Next thing I knew, he came floating past me."
Across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, more than 1 million
residents remained without electricity, some without clean drinking
water. An untold number who heeded evacuation orders were displaced
and 40,000 were in Red Cross shelters, with officials saying it
could be weeks, if not months, before most will be able to return.
Emergency medical teams from across the country were sent into
the region and President Bush cut short his Texas vacation Tuesday
to return to Washington to focus on the storm damage.
Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown warned
that structural damage to homes, diseases from animal carcasses and
chemicals in floodwaters made it unsafe for residents to come home
anytime soon. And a mass return also was discouraged to keep from
interfering with rescue and recovery efforts.
That was made tough enough by the vast expanse of floodwaters in
coastal areas that took an eight-hour pounding from Katrina's
howling winds and up to 15 inches of rainfall. From the air,
neighborhood after neighborhood looked like nothing but islands of
rooftops surrounded by swirling, tea-colored water.
In New Orleans, the flooding actually got worse Tuesday. Failed
pumps and levees apparently spilled water from Lake Pontchartrain
into streets. The rising water forced hotels to evacuate, led a
hospital to boatlift patients to emergency shelters, and drove the
staff of New Orleans' Times-Picayune newspaper out of its offices.
Officials planned to use helicopters to drop 3,000-pound
sandbags and dozens of giant concrete barriers into the breach, and
expressed confidence the problem could be solved. But if the water
rose a couple feet higher, it could wipe out water system for whole
city, said New Orleans' homeland security chief Terry Ebbert.
A clearer picture of the destruction in Alabama became to emerge
Tuesday: cement slabs where homes once stood, a 100-foot shrimp
boat smoldering on its side, people searching for swept-away
keepsakes. The damage in some areas appears to be worse than last
year's Hurricane Ivan.
In devastated Biloxi, Miss., areas that were not underwater were
littered with tree trunks, downed power lines and chunks of broken
concrete. Some buildings were flattened.
The string of floating barge casinos crucial to the coastal
economy were a shambles. At least three of them were picked up by
the storm surge and carried inland, their barnacle-covered hulls
sitting up to 200 yards inland.
The deadliest spot yet appeared to be Biloxi's Quiet Water Beach
apartments, where authorities said about 30 people were washed
away. All that was left of the red-brick building was a concrete
slab.
"We grabbed a lady and pulled her out the window and then we
swam with the current," 55-year-old Joy Schovest said through
tears. "It was terrifying. You should have seen the cars floating
around us. We had to push them away when we were trying to swim."
Said Biloxi Mayor A. J. Holloway: "This is our tsunami."
Looting became a problem in both Biloxi and in New Orleans, in
some cases in full view of police and National Guardsmen. One
police officer was shot in the head by a looter in New Orleans, but
was expected to recover, Sgt. Paul Accardo, a police spokesman.
On New Orleans' Canal Street, which actually resembled a canal,
dozens of looters ripped open the steel gates on clothing and
jewelry stores, some packing plastic garbage cans with loot to
float down the street. One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans
draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from
his store.
"No," the man shouted, "that's EVERYBODY'S store!"
Looters at a Wal-Mart brazenly loaded up shopping carts with
items including micorwaves, coolers and knife sets. Others walked
out of a sporting goods store on Canal Street with armfuls of shoes
and football jerseys.
Outside the broken shells of Biloxi's casinos, people picked
through slot machines to see if they still contained coins and
ransacked other businesses. "People are just casually walking in
and filling up garbage bags and walking off like they're Santa
Claus," said Marty Desei, owner of a Super 8 motel.
Insurance experts estimated the storm will result in up to $25
billion in insured losses. That means Katrina could prove more
costly than record-setting Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which caused
an inflation-adjusted $21 billion in losses.
Oil prices jumped by more than $3 a barrel on Tuesday, climbing
above $70 a barrel, amid uncertainty about the extent of the damage
to the Gulf region's refineries and drilling platforms.
By midday Tuesday, Katrina was downgraded to a tropical
depression, with winds around 35 mph. It was moving northeast
through Tennessee at around 21 mph, with the potential to dump 8
inches of rain and spin off deadly tornadoes.
Katrina left 11 people dead in its soggy jog across South
Florida last week, as a much weaker storm.
---
Associated Press reporters Holbrook Mohr, Mary Foster, Allen G.
Breed, Brett Martel, Adam Nossiter and Jay Reeves contributed to
this report.
---
On the Net:
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Associated Press Writer
BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - Joy Schovest swam for her life, fighting
Hurricane Katrina's storm surge and its angry winds, brushing aside
debris and floating cars to reach higher ground.
Behind her, at least 30 of her neighbors in the Quiet Water
Beach apartments were dying, trapped in their crumbling two-story
building as it was swept away with much of this Mississippi coast
community Monday.
"We grabbed a lady and pulled her out the window and then we
swam with the current," said Schovest, 55, breaking into tears.
"It was terrifying. You should have seen the cars floating around
us. We had to push them away when we were trying to swim."
The tragedy at the apartment building represented the biggest
known cluster of deaths caused by Katrina.
Joe Spraggins, civil defense director for Harrison County, home
to Biloxi and Gulfport, said the county's death toll was at least
100, and officials were "very, very worried that this is going to
go a lot higher."
The only remaining evidence of the Quiet Water Beach apartments
was a concrete slab surrounded by a heap of red bricks that were
once the building's walls. A crushed red toy wagon, jewelry,
clothing and twisted boards were mixed in with the debris. The
four-lane road that separated the building from the beachfront was
buckled and covered with rubble.
"This is all that's left of my house," said nearby resident
Jack Crochet, 56, shaking his head and looking at the rubble.
"It's never going to be the same. It's over."
The storm also inflicted a punishing blow to Biloxi's waterfront
casinos, down the beach from the apartment building. At least three
of the floating barge casinos were tossed from their moorings by
the storm's 25-foot wall of water, their barnacle-covered hulls
coming to rest up to 200 yards inland.
Aerial footage showed the Grand Casino landed on the side of a
busy highway. "I think it will have to be cut into pieces simply
to be moved out of there," Gary Loveman, chairman of Harrah's
Entertainment Inc., told CNBC.
At the Treasure Bay Casino, people examined the slot machines to
see if they still contained coins, and looting broke out in other
areas of Biloxi.
"People are just casually walking in and filling up garbage
bags and walking off like they're Santa Claus," said Marty Desei,
owner of a Super 8 motel in Biloxi. "I haven't seen anything like
this in my whole life."
The lucky ones in the Quiet Water Beach apartment building and
other vulnerable areas of Biloxi described a scene of pandemonium
as they fled the rising water. When asked why they ignored
evacuation orders, some said they did not think the storm would be
that bad; others would not give a reason.
Apartment tenant Landon Williams, a 19-year-old construction
worker, said he and his grandmother and uncle ran from the
crumbling building as the storm hit. As they later swam through the
swirling water and debris, "we watched the apartments
disintegrate. You could hear the big pieces of wood cracking and
breaking apart."
He said the winds flung two-by-fours and drywall.
"I lost everything. We can't even find my car," he said. "I'm
looking through this wreckage to see if I can find anything that's
mine. If not, I'm moving on. I think I'll move on to North Carolina
and do some work over there. I can't take it here anymore - not
after this."
Williams said six of his neighbors in the building who remained
behind also survived. "As the second story collapsed, they climbed
onto the roof and part of it floated away and they floated to a
house that made it," he said.
Paul Merritt, 30, surveyed the damage in Biloxi with his
18-year-old wife and their 3-month-old son, Brandon. He said the
water rose to the second story of his townhouse, which is less than
a block off the beach.
"I've never seen destruction of this magnitude," Merritt said.
"You see this stuff on TV and you hope that it never happens to
you. Everything's gone."
Ida Punzo rode out the s torm with a friend and two neighbors in
her 130-year-old home on the beachfront in Biloxi. The first two
floors of the old house were almost completely gone, but she
survived.
"It was a miracle," Punzo said. "This place is held together
with God's spit. We're not supposed to be alive."
---
Associated Press Writer Jay Reeves contributed to this report.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico National Guardsmen, dozens
of volunteers from several local organizations and electrical
workers are headed to the Gulf Coast to offer aid to the victims of
Hurricane Katrina.
Gov. Bill Richardson has ordered 200 members of the guard to aid
in the hurricane relief effort. The troops will be used for their
areas of expertise - transportation, military policing and medical
support.
Brig. Gen. Kenny Montoya, the state National Guard's commander,
said during a news conference Tuesday that the troops have yet to
be given a specific mission but they have lifesaving training that
will surely benefit those in need.
Montoya said the troops will remain in Louisiana and Mississippi
"as long as American lives are in jeopardy."
Richardson, who requested the National Guard's help late Monday,
said his heart goes out to the victims.
"I would ask New Mexico to say a prayer for all those
afflicted," he said.
Public Service Company of New Mexico will send a caravan on
Wednesday of 28 linemen and other support employees to help restore
power to hurricane-damaged areas.
The employees will spend two to three weeks helping restore
electricity to customers served by Entergy, a utility that
estimates it has 1.1 million customers without power in the two
states.
So far, 13 volunteers from the American Red Cross, 35 with the
Disaster Medical Assistance Team and 23 with the local U.S. Army
Corps Of Engineers will offer their services.
Edwina Larner, local director of Emergency Services Public
Relations, said the Red Cross contingent left for Texas on Monday.
It included volunteers from Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Farmington and
Las Cruces.
Piper Gibson, director of operations and support for the
Southwestern New Mexico Chapter of the American Red Cross in Las
Cruces, said more volunteers are expected to head out later in the
week.
Gibson said the people sent to the region are very experienced
volunteers.
"It's not a cushy job, believe me," he said. "These people
have to be able to commit to two to three weeks, staying in the
shelters, eating the same meals as the people they're trying to
help, no air conditioning. They experience the same elements that
those people are experiencing. We don't put them up in a hotel."
Volunteers will hand out food and water in storm-battered areas,
and some will offer counseling, Larner said.
Members of the Disaster Medical Assistance Team were called to
duty Saturday evening, but had to wait until Monday afternoon
before heading into areas hardest hit by Katrina.
Mike Richards, a University of New Mexico doctor who heads the
team, said the group once it arrives will take about two hours to
set up tents and equipment and start seeing patients.
"We carry enough materials to be self-sufficient for 72
hours," Richards said by telephone while traveling. "A typical
mission can last up to two weeks."
The Army Corps of Engineers group from Albuquerque was last sent
on a mission about a month ago, when Hurricane Dennis ripped
through the Florida Panhandle and parts of Alabama, Russ Jaramillo
said.
Jaramillo, a civil engineer with the corps, said they have
several response teams that go to disaster sites. Each team focuses
on a task, such as ice, water, power, debris removal, structural
assessment or temporary housing.
The local team has been put on alert, he said. If members are
needed, 16 volunteers and seven members of the ice team will be
ready to help where power failures have put out refrigeration
capacity.
If and when his team is deployed, Jaramillo said, the first
concern is helping people.
"The basic essential needs come first - food, shelter, water,"
he said. "Secondary comes cleaning of debris, sanitation and
providing power."
Seven firefighters from Farmington packed up their equipment
Monday and said goodbye to their families after being called to
serve on New Mexico Task Force One, which will help with urban
search and rescue and swift-water rescues.
Tom Anderson left behind his son and pregnant wife.
"It makes me sad to leave them, but they're in good hands. The
guys with the fire department will check in and make sure they're
doing OK," said Anderson, who could be gone as long as 14 days.
Roadrunner Food Bank moved itself into "disaster response
mode" on Monday as it prepared to help sister food banks impacted
by the hurricane. Those include food banks in Louisiana, Alabama,
Mississippi and Florida.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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By BILL KACZOR
Associated Press Writer
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - Richard and Sarah Trimble's storm-damaged
home still needs repairs, but that didn't stop them Tuesday from
heading for Mississippi to help feed victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The Pensacola couple were among more than 100 members of two
faith-based organizations from across Florida who set out for
Alabama and Mississippi in a 31-truck convoy, including mobile
kitchens and a shower trailer.
Gov. Jeb Bush was on hand to see them off at Olive Baptist
Church. The convoy then split in two. A Southern Baptist Disaster
Relief contingent went to Hattiesburg, Miss., and a Salvation Army
group to Mobile, Ala., although it is likely to later be sent
farther west.
"It's payback time as far as I'm concerned," Bush said later.
He noted that volunteers and government agencies from across the
nation came to Florida's aid last year, when four hurricanes struck
the state.
One of those, Hurricane Ivan, ripped open the roof of the
Trimbles' home, causing severe water damage inside, last September.
The roof has been fixed but the interior has yet to be completely
repaired.
Sarah Trimble, a retired university administrator, said she
wasn't worried about that as the couple joined the Southern Baptist
contingent.
"It's just stuff," she said. "We feel this is where God has
called us to serve."
They are veteran Southern Baptist disaster volunteers as part of
a unit that cooks food then usually distributed by the Salvation
Army or Red Cross. They spent a week in New York City after the
Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to feed police and firefighters,
worked all four hurricanes in 2004 and earlier this year went to
Indonesia to help tsunami victims.
They had a hotel room in New York, but that was an exception.
They expected more familiar accommodations in Hattiesburg.
"We spend most of our life on church floors," Sarah said with
a smile. "So we've learned which air mattresses have the better
quality."
Katrina killed 11 people in South Florida last week and then
crossed the Gulf of Mexico where it again made landfall in
Louisiana, causing more death and destruction from there to the
Florida Panhandle. The Gulf Coast death toll was uncertain but at
least 100 deaths were confirmed in a single Mississippi county. No
Panhandle fatalities were reported.
The Panhandle, also hit by Hurricane Dennis in July, received
only a glancing blow, but Katrina still closed bridges, flooded
streets, knocked out power and eroded beaches.
Interstate 10 and U.S. 98 bridges, both linking Pensacola to
points east, were back open Tuesday. Katrina also closed U.S. 98
between Fort Walton Beach and Destin, but state transportation
officials expected to get two of the four lanes reopened Wednesday
night.
Gulf Power Co. crews worked through the night to restore service
to 90,000 homes and businesses, leaving about 38,000 still without
power Tuesday. About 1,000 rural cooperative customers also
remained without power.
The Florida Reliability Coordinating Council urged the public to
conserve electricity because the natural gas facilities in the Gulf
had been shut down. Natural gas is the primary fuel for about a
third of the electricity generated for the Florida Peninsula.
Florida search and rescue units from Miami-Dade, Duval and
Hillsborough counties also were in Mississippi or en route while
the Florida National Guard was activated and ready to help if
called upon, Bush said. He said three Pensacola hospitals were
helping evacuate patients from Tulane University's hospital in New
Orleans.
The Red Cross was keeping shelters open in Florida for Katrina
victims who cannot yet return home while Coast Guard units from
across the state were being dispatched to affected areas.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
dispatched more than 180 forestry workers, 21 law enforcement
officers and an animal industry team to assist in Mississippi and
South Florida areas affected by the storm.
Chester Gunn, 68, of Brandon, was among the Baptist volunteers
heading for Hattiesburg to help operate the shower trailer.
"We get more out of it than the people we serve," said the
retired power plant worker, who had spent two months doing
hurricane relief last year. "To see people standing in front of
you with tears running down their eyes and saying `thank you,'
that's something money can't buy."
Ivan Briggs, 68, a retired computer analyst and Kennedy Space
Center tour bus driver from Titusville, responds good naturedly to
kidding about sharing his first name with one of last year's
hurricanes. He will be helping prepare food in Hattiesburg, just as
he did after Hurricane Charley in Punta Gorda last year.
"We had people from all over - Georgia, Mississippi and the
Carolinas," Briggs said. "It's an opportunity to return what
they've done."

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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By ANNIE BERGMAN
Associated Press Writer
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Tuesday that
the unprecedented devastation of Hurricane Katrina demanded an
"unparalleled level of response" from the state where many
refugees fled in advance of the storm and might stay indefinitely
while waiting to return.
"If there's ever a time when the Golden Rule applies, it's
now," Huckabee said at a dinner hosted for refugees at the
Arkansas State Fair Grounds.
Refugees from Louisiana and Mississippi poured into Arkansas
before Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on Monday morning. Many had
anticipated returning to their homes soon, but damage was so severe
and conditions still so dangerous that all timetables are shot.
"We don't see us back home for a while," said Donnita Baranyai
of Kenner, La., whose extended family of 20 - staying in North
Little Rock - hoped to return home Wednesday. "We talked to a
neighbor who said the water is to the roof."
She said family resources are running low and that everyone she
knows who traveled to Arkansas to flee the storm is running short
on cash.
Refugees who traveled to the Hillsboro Inn in El Dorado saw a
familiar name on arrival. The front desk clerk's name is Katrina.
Few were amused, hotel manager Guy Williams said.
Erica Preatto of Marrero, La., staying at a shelter on the
Arkansas State Fair Grounds in Little Rock, said it appears she,
her 11-month-old daughter and the baby's father would be in
Arkansas for an unknown time.
"We don't know if we're going to be here for a couple days or a
couple months," said Preatto, who is seven months' pregnant. "I'm
hoping I don't have to have my baby in Arkansas. I'm afraid we're
going to have to have a birthday party in Arkansas" for the
daughter on Sept. 7.
"It would be nice if we could find a way to make a living while
we're here," Preatto said. "We don't know anybody and we don't
know what to do."
Huckabee, who went to the fair grounds to meet 50 or so refugees
at a dinner that featured hamburgers and garlic chicken, said the
operation to help displaced residents of Louisiana and Mississippi
was without precedent.
"The number of people who will have to relocate, the length of
people who will have to stay away, it necessitates an unparalleled
level of response," he said. Huckabee said Arkansas could leave
shelters open for weeks or maybe months.
Separately, the Arkansas National Guard sent an advance team to
Camp Shelby, Miss., which will serve as a staging area for
assistance in southern Mississippi. With 350 Guardsmen, Arkansas is
also sending a pair of Medevac Black Hawk helicopters to the
region. Fifteen guardsmen also departed Hazen on Tuesday to rescue
patients stranded at the VA Medical Center in New Orleans.
"I wish them the best as they head to a region destroyed by one
of the worst natural disasters in our recent history," Rep. Marion
Berry, D-Ark., said.
Entergy Arkansas, the state's largest electric utility, sent 362
workers to help its sister utilities in Louisiana and Mississippi,
including 205 linemen and service people. The Electric Cooperatives
of Arkansas sent 100 linemen to Louisiana, 28 to Alabama and 13 to
Mississippi.
State Forester John T. Shannon said the Arkansas Forestry
Commission sent 14 people to Louisiana to assist with cleanup
efforts. Some will work with chain saws to clear roads and remove
debris from along power lines.
The Arkansas Civil Air Patrol offered expertise in aerial
photography and damage assessment and would use a satellite uplink
to send real-time photographs to emergency management officials.
Members are also trained in search-and-rescue missions and
emergency communications.
Huckabee asked Arkansans to donate to the American Red Cross'
disaster relief fund and asked state police to deploy more troopers
in southern Arkansas to aid refugees from farther south.
Several Arkansas communities offered shelter to refugees,
including the Summit Arena in Hot Springs, which was feeding people
in addition to housing them. Monday, Huckabee said shelters would
be opened throughout Arkansas' southern tier of counties.
Arkadelphia hosted a free lunch for refugees on Tuesday at the
city Recreation Center. Todd Turner is an attorney who helped
distribute the invitations.
"These people are desperate. They asked us questions. They
didn't know where the hospital was. You can imagine if you were
stuck there for a week," Turner said.
"A lot of them were really excited" when given the invitations
to the lunch, Turner said. "A group at the Holiday Inn started
crying."
The city also opened its swimming pool early to accommodate
travelers.
The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism has posted a list
of available lodging for Hurricane Katrina victims on its
www.Arkansas.com Web site. Most of the listings are hotels and
motels with vacancies, though churches and other shelters are
included.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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By ADAM NOSSITER
Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Helicopters dropped sandbags on two broken
levees as the water kept rising in the streets. The governor drew
up plans to evacuate just about everyone left in town. Looters
ransacked stores. Doctors in their scrubs had to use canoes to
bring supplies to blacked-out hospitals.
New Orleans sank deeper into crisis Tuesday, a full day after
Hurricane Katrina hit.
"It's downtown Baghdad," said tourist Denise Bollinger, who
snapped pictures of looting in the French Quarter. "It's insane."
The mayor estimated that 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded,
while a countless number of residents were still stranded on
rooftops.
Hospitals were running out of power and scrambling to find
places to take their patients. At one clinic, broken glass littered
some areas and patients and staff had fallen on floors slick with
floodwaters.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that everyone still in the city, now
huddled in the Superdome and other rescue centers, needs to leave.
She said late Tuesday she wanted the Superdome - with no
electricity or air conditioning - to be evacuated within two days.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is considering putting
people on cruise ships, in tent cities, mobile home parks, and
so-called floating dormitories - boats the agency uses to house its
own employees.
Rescue teams were still picking up people throughout the city
Tuesday, leaving them on island-like highway overpasses and on a
levee to wait to be moved again. Eventually, they will end up in
the Superdome, where 15,000 to 20,000 people have taken refuge,
said Louisiana National Guard Maj. Gen. Bennett C. Landreneau. One
person died at the Superdome attempting to jump from one level to a
lower one.
Among the evacuees are 5,000 inmates from New Orleans and
suburbs that need to be moved. Officials were trying to figure out
how.
The historic French Quarter appeared to have been spared the
worst flooding, but its stores were getting the worst of human
nature.
"The looting is out of control. The French Quarter has been
attacked," Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson said. "We're using
exhausted, scarce police to control looting when they should be
used for search and rescue while we still have people on
rooftops."
As Sen. Mary Landrieu flew over the area by helicopter, a group
of people smashed a window at a convenience store and jumped in.
At a drug store in the French Quarter, people were running out
with grocery baskets and coolers full of soft drinks, chips and
diapers. One looter shot and wounded a fellow looter, who was taken
to a hospital and survived.
Only rooftops were visible in several neighborhoods and the
occasional building was in flames.
On a grassy hill in the Carrolton neighborhood, a group of
people watched the water quickly rising in the street, about a foot
an hour by some estimates.
William Washington had gone to bed in dry house Monday night,
well after the hurricane had passed. The water came up Tuesday
after the levee broke, and by afternoon his home was flooded.
"We're trying to get to the Superdome," Washington said as he
waited with neighbors. "We're waiting for the National Guard. The
radio mentioned that they would pick people up."
With hundreds, if not thousands, of people still stranded in
flooded homes, attics and rooftops across the city, rescue boats
were bypassing the dead to reach the living, Mayor C. Ray Nagin
said.
"We're not even dealing with dead bodies," Nagin said.
"They're just pushing them on the side."
A few more feet of water could wipe out the entire city water
system, said Terry Ebbert, the city's homeland security chief.
The intestates are impassable, the bridges may be unstable and
no one knows if the buildings can withstand the damage brought by
Katrina, the governor said after flying over the region.
"We saw block after block, neighborhood and neighborhood
inundated," Blanco said, her voice breaking with emotion. "It's
just heartbreaking."
Sean Jeffries of New Orleans had already been evacuated from one
French Quarter hotel when he was ordered out of a second hotel
Tuesday because of rising water.
The 37-year-old banker - who admitted to looting some food from
a nearby supermarket - said the hotel guests were told they were
being taken to a convention center, but from there, they didn't
know.
"We're in the middle of a national tragedy," he said as he
popped purloined grapes in his mouth. "But I know this city. We
will be back. It may take awhile. But we will be back."

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

"To be honest with you, people who are oppressed all their lives, man, it's an opportunity to get back at society," he said.

Their definition of "oppressed" means that they have not been handed everything they want on a silver platter.

I can remember on 9/11 walking through downtown Manhattan. Doors to stores were wide open and not a thing was missing. Too many more days of watching the looting on TV and their is going to be very little sympathy from the rest of the US. These animals are not exactly going to be welcomed with open arms in other areas of the country.

On the insurance note, this is going to be a big story in a few weeks. If you look at your homeowners insurance policy, flood is a specifically excluded risk. That means if the damage is caused by a flood, the insurance company is not obligated to pay you. That is why they sell flood insurance. You may see that a whole ton of these claims are not going to be covered.

[dmleblanc]

Too many more days of watching the looting on TV and their is going to be very little sympathy from the rest of the US.

I couldn't have put it better myself...

[kentbwj]

This is just so incredibly sad to see these people who have worked so hard and lost nearly everything. I know they're grateful to be alive, but their hearts must be broken. I wish there were some way to help them directly, but for now, I guess sending money is all we can do.

[FF2BKE]

New Mexico Task Force 1 headed out yesterday to help. Stay safe guys, come home soon.

To all those victims of Katrina we're thinking of you.

[MalahatTwo7]

GOOD LUCK GUYS. I hope the best for everyone involved in the 'clean up'.

Medics resort to alternate vehiclesBy Matthew Cella THE WASHINGTON TIMES August 31, 2005

Paramedics in the District are using sport utility vehicles and Ford Crown Victorias to respond to medical emergencies because of a shortage of ambulances in the city's fleet.

Crews had to resort to the alternate vehicles during the weekend on discovering that reserve ambulances already had been pressed into service to replace units under repair.

Fire officials conceded there was a shortage Sunday that forced one crew to respond to an emergency in a nontransport vehicle.

Alan Etter, a spokesman for the fire department, said the incident was caused by a high volume of heat-related medical calls. He said the department has three or four ambulances left on reserve.

"It's one of those situations when they get down a little closer than they would like it to be," he said.

But paramedics working during the weekend told a different story. "Supervisors tried every which way to keep the paramedics on duty," one medic said.

Some emergency response departments, including the District's, employ specialized nontransport vehicles, commonly referred to as "fly cars" or "rapid response vehicles," that are supplied with medical equipment.

The vehicles allow paramedics to administer advanced life support and move on to the next call while emergency medical technicians transport and wait with the patient at the hospital.

The District has two such units -- SUVs marked with symbols identifying them as rapid-response vehicles. The vehicles pressed into service this past weekend were department-owned Crown Victorias usually driven by supervisors.

"This is absurd," said Kenneth Lyons, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3721, which represents the city's paramedics and emergency medical technicians. "We are at a tipping point here when it comes to something as easily purchasable as an ambulance."

A source said there has been a rash of accidents in the past few months and that the department is attempting to make an emergency purchase of additional ambulances.

Mr. Etter confirmed that fire officials were looking at new ambulances Monday and plan to buy more units "very shortly."

On any given day, the department operates 51 ambulances. However, the numbers fluctuate as ambulances break down or require routine maintenance.

Of the 51 units, 33 respond to 911 calls and transport patients to hospitals.

Twelve ambulances are part of the emergency mobilization plan, from which the department deploys units to special events, such as Washington Nationals home games.

Four ambulances are held in reserve in case a front-line ambulance breaks down. Two ambulances are used by supervisors to train medics.

Mr. Lyons blamed the shortage on "mismanagement." "We warned them a long time ago we were getting to this point," he said. "Now we're managing by crisis."

As for the looters.... as a member of a foreign delegation, I am not permitted to express my views on that situation, but if I were a redneck (and no disrespect intended) I know what I'd be doing.

[Diane E]

On the insurance note, this is going to be a big story in a few weeks. If you look at your homeowners insurance policy, flood is a specifically excluded risk. That means if the damage is caused by a flood, the insurance company is not obligated to pay you. That is why they sell flood insurance. You may see that a whole ton of these claims are not going to be covered.

There's also hurricane coverage (at least on Long Island there is)...Some have high deductibles depending on how close you are to water.

[KnightnPBIArmor]

Did anyone besides me see the clip on the news this morning that showed 2 female NOPD officers IN UNIFORM joining in the looting??? We at the station couldn't believe what we were seeing, and when the reporter asked the one what she was doing, all she could come up with was "I'm doing my job"

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

Did anyone besides me see the clip on the news this morning that showed 2 female NOPD officers IN UNIFORM joining in the looting??? We at the station couldn't believe what we were seeing, and when the reporter asked the one what she was doing, all she could come up with was "I'm doing my job"

As usual, gang up on the cops.

I highly doubt that they were "participating in the looting". I read press accounts of police securing pharmaceutical products to be transferred to hospitals, etc. There was video footage of that taking place on Fox. The stuff is going to be ruined anyway. It is a smart move to get these items to people who can use them. I am sure that is what she meant by "doing her job".

[doughesson]

I agree with y'all.They should have pictures of those caught on tape looting at the relief offices and turn them away as they have already"helped themselves".
Just because you need food and the relief effort hasn't started yet doesn't mean that you can go to Wally World and loot you a new TV set.

On a related note,I am reading a book called "Rising Tide"about the flood of 1927 and the levees in St Bernard and Plaqueminne Parishes that were dynamited to ease the pressure on the levees around New Orleans are the same ones that failed and flooded out again.

I couldn't have put it better myself...

[KnightnPBIArmor]

As usual, gang up on the cops.

I highly doubt that they were "participating in the looting". I read press accounts of police securing pharmaceutical products to be transferred to hospitals, etc. There was video footage of that taking place on Fox. The stuff is going to be ruined anyway. It is a smart move to get these items to people who can use them. I am sure that is what she meant by "doing her job".

George, George, George...relax: I was a reserve police officer myself for 2 years, and I have worked as a fire investigator, so I don't think I'm "ganging up on the cops". All I know is the video clip showed two female officers loading a buggy with clothes, while civilian looters carried off whatever they could get their hands on. Get items to people who could use them? I could see food and water, but I would say clothes would be a secondary neccesity, wouldn't you?

[pikehole25]

The most important thing is what can we do to help and how can we respond, I have several firefigthers and emt's wanting to help, we can leave Iowa at a moments notice. If you know who to contact let us know, we will be in route. Email me if you can.

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

George, George, George...relax: I was a reserve police officer myself for 2 years, and I have worked as a fire investigator, so I don't think I'm "ganging up on the cops". All I know is the video clip showed two female officers loading a buggy with clothes, while civilian looters carried off whatever they could get their hands on. Get items to people who could use them? I could see food and water, but I would say clothes would be a secondary neccesity, wouldn't you?

Nope.

Being in wet clothes for 48-72 hours is a health hazard. They showed people who had been w/o shoes who had been walking for days with the feet cut up and bleeding.

Seems to me they were doing their job.

[krg1401]

dmleblanc - we have an employee in our department who has family in Pasq and Moss Point. Pasq has been in the news but nothing from Moss Point. Any info would be grealty appreciated!

[MIKEYLIKESIT]

I just got a call from a friend who rode out the storm in Metairie, which is located about halfway betweeh the airport and downtown. He is staying at a friends house.The friend evacuated. My buddy has a generator, a pool, food and a ton of booze at his disposal. He also has access to regular phone. He says every half mile east of him it gets worse. He says there is significant damage, mostly to trees and power lines but no flooding. If you are familiar with N.O., he is located at I-10 and the Causeway. He and several other people are keeping an eye on the neighborhood. They are siphoning gas from the neighbors vehicles for the generator....With the neighbors blessings. The A.C is oos but hes living pretty well. Oh yeah one other thing....They are armed and prepared to keep any passing thugs moving along. I feel a tiny bit better that he was ok. I told him he was a dumbass for staying , but he is a Coast Guard veteran and I was fairly sure he would be alright.