Katrina: Public order fraying
2005-09-02 15:10
New Orleans - Hurricane-battered New Orleans was consumed by a catastrophe of unimagined scale on Tuesday, cut off from the outside world, submerged by rising floodwaters and troubled by signs of fraying public order.
"The devastation is greater than our worst fears," said Louisiana state governor Kathleen Blanco.
"It is just totally overwhelming. It is a tragedy of great proportions."
Hundreds of looters ransacked shops on the edge of the storied French Quarter and elsewhere as authorities searched for ways to stop floodwaters spawned by deadly Hurricane Katrina from further swamping the city, which authorities said was already 80% submerged.
Rescue helicopters swooped on residential areas to snatch survivors from roofs lapped by water spilling into the city from levees which burst in at least two places.
Dangerous
With live power lines, gas pipes and debris including submerged cars floating below the surface of foul waters it was too dangerous for rescue workers to use boats in some areas, meaning coast guard and military helicopters bore the brunt of the rescue effort.
Blanco said rescuers have saved hundreds of people, but "many lives" have been lost.
"We know that many lives have been lost," she said, but she warned that there was no way for authorities to put together any kind of reliable death or casualty toll.
City engineers battled meanwhile to close a huge gash in canal defences torn by heavy rains and deadly hurricane winds on Monday.
WWL-TV said the break in the 17th Street canal was spewing water from Lake Pontchartrain into the northern part of the city, much of which is below sea level, and relief teams had no way to stop it.
"The breach in the 17th Street canal is about 60m wide," New Orleans police's Julie Wilson told the station.
"The water is going to keep coming in until it reaches the level of the lake. I don't know what they are going to do."
Fires
Fires could be seen burning out of control in several areas of the city but a district fire chief who declined to be identified told AFP: "We can't get to them because of the water."
"The real problem isn't fire, it's the water," he added.
"They say the water is rising 2.5cm an hour."
Parts of the French Quarter visited by an AFP correspondent which were dry on Monday were under as much as 1m of water on Tuesday.
The Louisiana Superdome, which is holding at least 10 000 evacuees, was surrounded by water on Tuesday, according to television reports.
Evacuees sat tight in the massive sports arena, which itself bore Katrina's scars after having much of its outer dome ripped off on Monday.
There were instances of looting in several areas of the city.
Martial law
Looters were seen on downtown Canal Street and in other areas, including overnight in the particularly hard-hit St Bernard Parish neighbourhood of the city.
The authorities have imposed martial law in at least two parishes in New Orleans in a bid to deter looters, a day after Katrina swept ashore.
Telephone communications with New Orleans were largely cut off and about 700 000 people were without power.
Some victims had been stuck on the roofs of their homes for nearly 24 hours in a spiralling humanitarian crisis.
Water unsafe to drink
Water was unsafe to drink in many areas, if available at all, as the Red Cross swung a massive relief operation into action to aid a city metropolitan area population of 1.4 million.
"Our city is in a state of devastation," Mayor Ray Nagin told WWL-TV "we probably have 80% of our city under water."
"With some sections of our city, the water is as deep as 7m."
"It's almost like a nightmare that I hope we wake up from."