Lawlessness stops evacuations
2005-09-01 14:59
New Orleans - The evacuation of the Superdome was suspended on Thursday because of growing lawlessness outside the arena, as national guardsmen in armoured vehicles poured into New Orleans to help restore order across the increasingly desperate city.
An additional 10 000 national guard troops from across the country were ordered into the Gulf Coast to shore up security, rescue and relief operations.
That brought the number of troops dedicated to the effort to more than 28 000, in what may be the biggest military response to a natural disaster in the United States.
"The truth is, a terrible tragedy like this brings out the best in most people, brings out the worst in some people," said Mississippi governor Haley Barbour on NBC's Today show. "We're trying to deal with looters as ruthlessly as we can get our hands on them."
The first of 500 busloads of people who were evacuated from the hot and stinking Louisiana Superdome arrived early on Thursday at their new temporary home - another sports arena, the Houston Astrodome, 560km away.
But the evacuation was abruptly suspended by the air ambulance service in charge of taking the sick and injured from the Superdome and by the military, which was overseeing the removal of the able-bodied.
Richard Zeuschlag, chief of Acadian Ambulance, said shots were fired at a military helicopter, making it clear that it had become too dangerous for his pilots.
And national guard Lieutenant-Colonel Pete Schneider said the military suspended the ground evacuation because fires set outside the arena were preventing buses from getting close enough to pick people up.
President George W Bush urged a crackdown on the looting and other lawlessness that have spread through New Orleans.
"I think there ought to be zero tolerance of people breaking the law during an emergency such as this - whether it be looting, or price gouging at the gasoline pump, or taking advantage of charitable giving or insurance fraud," Bush said.
"And I've made that clear to our attorney general. The citizens ought to be working together."
- AP