New Orleans 'is utter hell'
2005-09-02 09:57
New Orleans - New Orleans was primed for all-out combat on Friday, as Iraq-tested troops with shoot-to-kill orders moved into the hurricane-devastated city to quell rioters and looters.
The deployment of 300 members of the Arkansas National Guard came ahead of a tour of the affected region by President George W Bush, who vowed "zero tolerance" for the armed gangs terrorising the flooded city.
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said the guardsmen had been authorised to open fire on "hoodlums" profiteering from the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina, which is believed to have left thousands dead.
"These troops are fresh back from Iraq, well trained, experienced, battle tested and under my orders to restore order in the streets," Blanco said.
"They have M-16s and they are locked and loaded.
"These troops know how to shoot and kill and they are more than willing to do so if necessary and I expect they will," she said.
Four days after the killer storm slammed into the US Gulf Coast, New Orleans was still plagued by gunbattles and rapes, with gangs of looters and carjackers roving the streets and bodies just left lying by the roadside.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin issued an urgent plea for help.
"This is a desperate SOS," Nagin said in a statement released through CNN television.
Blanco said up to 300 000 survivors may still be stuck in disaster areas in the state and at least 40 000 uniformed troops were needed for New Orleans alone.
Although no precise death toll was available, Blanco and Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu said several thousand people were now believed to have been killed by Katrina.
Amid reports that two children had been raped at the stadium, many people were outraged after spending four days without proper food, water and sanitation and enduring nights of lawless blackout.
"The last few days were utter hell. We were treated like animals," said Baron Duncan, 42.
The United States Senate, meeting in an extraordinary late night session on Thursday, voted unanimously to authorise $10.5bn in special funding for hurricane victims, and the House of Representatives was expected to approve the measure on Friday.
But anger over the government response to the catastrophe remained vocal and widespread.
"This is a national disgrace," said Terry Ebbert, head of New Orleans' emergency operations.
Ebert said the Federal Emergency Management Agency had been in the city for three days "yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."
Bush, who was scheduled to tour Louisiana, Misissippi and Alabama on Friday, called for public forbearance as relief efforts gathered pace.
"We all know this is an agonising time for the people of the Gulf Coast. I ask their continued patience as recovery operations unfold," the president said. "This recovery is going to be a long process."
- AFP