'What Hiroshima looked like'
2005-09-02 15:23
New Orleans - Rescuers along the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast pushed aside the dead to reach the living 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 on Tuesday, 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 6m deep in places.
"The situation is untenable," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said. "It's just heartbreaking."
Hiroshima
After touring the destruction by air, Mississippi governor Haley Barbour said it was not a 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 might 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."
At the same time, looting broke out in some neighbourhoods, 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 would have to be evacuated.
Prison
A helicopter view of the devastation over the New Orleans area revealed a row of desperately needed ambulances lined up on the interstate, water blocking their path. Hundreds of inmates were seen standing on a highway because the prison had been flooded.
Lt Gov. Mitch Landrieu said that 3 000 people have been rescued by boat and air, and 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.
Frank Mills was in a boarding house 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."
Looting
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.
On New Orleans' Canal 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 microwaves, coolers and knife sets.
Outside the broken shells of Biloxi's casinos, people picked through slot machines to see if they still contained coins.
- AP