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Disaster Zone In New Orleans, Thousands Still Wait for Rescue, But Aid Comes Slowly Administration Cites Its Steps By JOHN D. MCKINNON and YOCHI DREAZEN in Washington and EVELINA SHMUKLER in Gulfport, Miss. Amid signs of a deepening human catastrophe in New Orleans and the continued inability of authorities to bring relief to devastated parts of three states, the governor of Louisiana called for a military force of 40,000 troops to help the effort. Federal officials vowed to do whatever it took to relieve the crisis, but help was coming slowly and sometimes not at all. While federal officials enumerated steps to exert control over the situation, wrenching scenes of disarray, suffering and desperation played out on television screens across the country. Frantic hurricane refugees marooned in downtown New Orleans scrounged for food near dead bodies, while lawlessness foiled attempts to empty the wrecked city of the tens of thousands who remained. Rain deepened the misery and complicated repairs to dam a canal where flood waters ruptured a levee and inundated the city.
Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, defended the response so far. "We continue to meet the needs as communicated to us through the state," he said. "I think everyone in the country needs to take a big collective breath." But a chorus of critics assailed the handling of the tragedy. "FEMA has been here 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," said Terry Ebbert, homeland-security chief in New Orleans, according to the Associated Press. Mr. Ebbert, a city employee, called the federal effort "a national disgrace." Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who had repeatedly thanked President Bush in a news conference Wednesday, said she has now asked the White House to send more people to help with evacuations so National Guard soldiers can focus on stopping looters. "I've actually asked for uniformed troops of any sort," she said yesterday, adding that she had been promised "as many troops as we need for as long as we need." (A post-Civil War law restricts federal military participation in law enforcement2.) The Louisiana governor said a body count still hadn't begun, but "we believe there will be thousands." In Mississippi, the official death toll rose to at least 126. An estimated 20% of New Orleans's 485,000 residents stayed in the city when Hurricane Katrina struck Monday with 145 mph winds. By yesterday, it was clear the burden of rescuing, feeding and sheltering evacuees -- while keeping the sick and injured alive and protecting emergency workers safe from roving gangs -- was more than authorities could handle. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin described a chaotic situation at the city's Convention Center. Like the Superdome, it has become a place of refuge for thousands, while drawing little attention until yesterday. Mayor Nagin described the situation at the Convention Center as a "desperate SOS," according to a statement read by CNN. The local health-care system teetered near collapse, with overburdened hospitals preparing to shut down as quickly as possible. Tenet Healthcare Corp. said its 203-bed Meadowcrest hospital in Gretna, La., would be evacuated because of safety concerns. A group of "armed bandits" tried to hijack a supply truck on the way there, said Harry Anderson, senior vice president at the Dallas company. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said, "This is without a doubt still a very, very dangerous situation on the ground." At an afternoon news conference, he confirmed that a National Guardsman at the Superdome had received a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg. He said the shooter had been arrested. Fire and police agencies in the disaster zone continued to face extensive communications problems owing to downed antennas and equipment breakdowns. The communications centers of the Slidell, La., police and fire departments, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, weren't functioning at all, said Willis Carter of the Shreveport Fire Department, who reached officials in the disaster zone by phone and email. Dire Conditions Conditions also appeared increasingly dire in other areas blasted by the storm. With so many refugees congregating in Baton Rouge, tensions escalated as locals battled with refugees for everything from space on the road to cash from the ATMs to gas at the filling stations. Traffic became a snarl, with tens of thousands of additional cars on the roads as evacuees and refugees sought government services, went to buy food and new clothing or hunted for temporary housing.
The images of the growing suffering -- concentrated among poor, black residents -- threatened to pose a political problem for Mr. Bush. He plans an air and ground tour of several of the stricken areas today, but planned to limit his appearances in New Orleans to the airport. White House officials said they were being mindful of possible disruptions to the precarious relief efforts, but security concerns could be a factor, too. White House spokesman Scott McClellan denied that the federal government had failed to plan adequately and dismissed criticism as finger-pointing. "Assets were pre-positioned," he said, adding: "This storm is of an unprecedented nature. It's one of the worst, if not the worst, natural disasters in our nation's history." He noted that Mr. Bush had issued disaster declarations even before Katrina struck to help speed the flow of aid once the storm passed. (See full text of Mr. McClellan's comments20.) But Mr. Bush acknowledged on ABC's "Good Morning America" that officials hadn't counted on the main source of the continuing problems in New Orleans: the levee breaches that caused much of the city to flood. "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," he said. "Now we're having to deal with it, and will." At midafternoon, Mr. Bush made another brief appearance with his father, the former president, and former President Clinton, who agreed to raise money for charities, even as Congress prepared to convene on an emergency basis to pass a supplemental spending bill requested by the administration. It was expected to include $10 billion for FEMA and $500 million for defense operations. The request for FEMA was based on estimates the agency is spending as much as $500 million a day and would be out of money this weekend without action. (See full text of Bush's speech.21)
Officials said throughout the day that a series of massive problems and conflicting needs prevented them from getting more relief supplies delivered faster. Most notably, they clearly hadn't planned for the twin disasters of both a hurricane and a levee break in New Orleans, despite warnings over the years. That combination quickly overwhelmed whatever efforts had been made to pre-position emergency supplies. And when the flooding began, the most urgent priority quickly became using available soldiers and military helicopters to rescue trapped survivors, rather than to shuttle in supplies. Then the devastation of the area's infrastructure emerged as a large obstacle: Local officials had trouble communicating their needs because phone and radio service was spotty. The initial focus for troops was to clear and reopen clogged airports and railroads so there would be a staging area for bringing in supplies by helicopter or train. Subsequently, according to the Associated Press, attempts to land helicopters at the Convention Center were hampered by rushing crowds, forcing rescue officials to toss supplies from 10 feet off the ground. Thousands of New Orleans residents gather at an evacuation area. Rumors surged through Baton Rouge yesterday morning that evacuees in the Baton Rouge River Center, an arena, were rioting, prompting frantic calls from people elsewhere trying to check on friends in Baton Rouge or children attending the city's Louisiana State University. Though no rioting erupted, all nonessential employees in a government building next to the River Center were sent home. In Gulfport, Miss., more than 400 people stood in line at a grocery-store parking lot yesterday, some for three hours, as part of the first large-scale distribution of ice and water in the city since the storm. People shouted at one another not to cut in line, physically blocking latecomers from joining others closer to the front. Detective Charles Bodie of the Gulfport Police Department patrolled the line with his rifle raised, shouting for order. "He's fixin' to shoot us all," said Dishekey Cummings, 30 years old. ![[hurricane map]](http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/images/P1-AD305A_HURRICANE08312005212020.gif) Amid the rising criticism and tension, the Bush administration took pains to convey a sympathetic tone while rattling off the range and magnitude of relief efforts. For instance, the military moved to sharply ratchet up its contributions as it sought to rebut criticism that it was moving too slowly. Military commanders said they would put 30,000 National Guard troops on duty in storm-battered states to help search for survivors and control the looting reported in numerous cities, with at least 24,000 to be on the ground in Louisiana and Mississippi by the weekend. Many of the troops will be sent directly to New Orleans, with 4,200 military police to arrive in the next three days, said National Guard Commander Lt. Gen. Steven Blum. The reservists will effectively quadruple the number of police officers in the city. Still, the Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort, while headed for the region, remained moored in Baltimore and won't arrive until next week at the earliest. Various smaller naval vessels are on the way, but they lack the medical resources of the 1,000-bed Comfort. Naval officials declined to say why the Comfort hadn't been pre-positioned in the region, but said it was being sent there unusually fast. The ship normally keeps minimal supplies and a skeletal crew of 76 aboard and is meant to be ready for deployment five days after an activation order. The Comfort wasn't formally activated until Wednesday, meaning the Navy has been scrambling to load it with extra medical supplies and a full complement of approximately 350 engineers and medical personnel. The ship is scheduled to pick up more supplies and crew in Florida before reaching the Gulf Coast. Command Center The Navy said the USS Harry S Truman was on its way to the Gulf Coast to serve as a command center for relief efforts, along with smaller, specialized vessels like the dock-loading USS Whidbey Island and the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan. The Marine Corps said it would send at least eight helicopters, while the Air Force said it would put advanced surveillance aircraft to work photographing the area to help look for survivors and map relief efforts. The Department of Health and Human Services announced that it was accelerating the opening of 40 emergency medical shelters. But only one was open as of yesterday morning and it was in Baton Rouge, about 80 miles from New Orleans. Ten more were likely to be open within three days, the agency said, and another 10 four days after that.
The Department of Transportation said it had dispatched nearly 800 trucks that would move 6.7 million military Meals Ready to Eat. The department ticked off some of the other relief supplies the trucks would move in: 18.4 million liters of water, 20,960 tarps, 3.4 million pounds of ice, 10 mobile homes, 249 generators, 135,000 blankets, 13,000 cots. The DOT also said it had dispatched a team of 70 transportation experts to help state and local officials assess damage to highways, railroads, airports, transit systems, ports and pipelines. White House Budget Director Joshua Bolten told reporters the $10.5 billion emergency budget request represents a "stopgap" measure to ensure that enough money is available for the next two weeks, until a fuller cost assessment can be made. He declined to speculate on the total cost of the recovery until floodwaters are pumped from the city. Another funding request could come once the administration can make a better assessment of needs. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois, both Republicans, said they had agreed Congress would "pass the emergency supplemental by unanimous consent so we can move quickly, and time will not be spent waiting to reconvene our members," scheduled to return next week. The House will take up the measure this afternoon and under an agreement ratified by Senate leaders, it is expected to go directly to Mr. Bush for his signature. Mr. Chertoff estimated that "hundreds of thousands of people" have been dislocated. Alphonso Jackson, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said temporary shelters would be needed for at least four weeks and likely longer. Federal agencies have identified 322 shelters in eight states, including Reunion Arena in Dallas and the Houston Astrodome. Late last night in Houston, with about 12,000 people inside the Astrodome, fire marshals announced they would refuse additional refugees, citing crowded conditions at the stadium. Medical personnel also issued a call for volunteers, saying the clinic was overwhelmed with patients. Officials halted buses from unloading passengers for an hour, looking to re-route the passengers elsewhere. But the decision was reversed at about 1 a.m. Friday after a caravan of 30 more buses arrived, carrying another 1,700 people from stricken areas. Officials scrambled to find additional space at the adjacent Reliant Center. Mr. Jackson said he spent yesterday talking with governors and county executives who are starting to step forward with plans for more permanent housing once an assessment can be done in New Orleans and elsewhere. The situation across ravaged communities stretching for some 90,000 square miles grew increasingly dismal. In a low-income section of southwest New Orleans, men without shirts and shoes and groups of kids walked into looted stores picking over the remains. "We don't have water, we don't have gas. I've got nine children," said Deon Ricard, 37, tears streaming down her face as the rain started to fall in her neighborhood. "We're all sitting out on the corner waiting for someone to help us."
Heeding the advice of law-enforcement officials, BellSouth Corp. on Wednesday evacuated an office that houses important equipment for phone service throughout Louisiana as well as communications in other states. The workers were nervous because they'd seen people they feared were looters assembling in flooded streets outside the downtown office. With state police as their escort, about 60 employees filed past the people and got onto buses heading outside the city, with some setting up shop in Baton Rouge. The building wasn't looted, and yesterday morning a skeleton crew of BellSouth employees returned to man the switches and generators and other equipment, which was essentially left on autopilot overnight. Civil disorder and the lack of food, water, fuel and other basic necessities appeared to be spreading farther inland in Mississippi. Phyllis and Robert Brack had evacuated about 100 miles inland to Hattiesburg, Miss., after their home in Bay St. Louis on the Gulf Coast was destroyed. But Ms. Brack said the situation in Hattiesburg was "deteriorating" and they were preparing to go a relative's house in Texas once he brought them more gas. Ms. Brack said they saw a man's truck stolen in broad daylight as he went into a store for food. Gunshots ran out during the night and a nearby hospital was being evacuated. "We are scared to stay," she said. Water and ice reached some distressed residents along the Mississippi coast, but the lack of communication and gas shortages continued to plague the relief effort. Army National Guard troops in Gulfport distributed supplies from 10 tractor-trailer rigs in the parking lot of a shopping center. An initial attempt Wednesday led to pushing and shoving as hundreds of residents rushed the trucks on foot and no police were there. "They started the distribution without notifying us, so it was a madhouse," said Gulfport Police Sgt. Brian Smith. "The Guard is doing the best they can." Yesterday, at one location, police provided order and barred people from getting supplies on foot. There, only people in cars were allowed in, and more than 200 cars formed a line snaking onto a local highway. This process, however, frustrated many residents, some of whom were nearly out of gas. Dispatched to Mississippi Willie Caston, 57, who drove one of the trucks to Gulfport as part of the FEMA relief effort, said he wasn't dispatched to Mississippi until late Tuesday. He and many other truck drivers loaded with critical supplies spent three days in West Palm Beach, Fla., near where Hurricane Katrina made its first landfall last week. "I think we should have been here a whole lot sooner," Mr. Caston said. "People here need water and ice."
Rescue crews from neighboring states showing up along the hardest-hit areas of the Mississippi coast were finding a widespread breakdown in communications among emergency personnel. "We're rolling into an area that has absolutely no communications in place," said Barry Luke, division chief of the Fire Rescue Department of Orange County, Fla., which sent about 65 people to the area. In some rural regions, Orange County crews have been the first rescue personnel to show up. "There isn't anyone to go up to and say, 'We're here,' " he said. In Pascagoula, an Orange County team found three seriously injured people and loaded them into an ambulance, only to realize they had no way to figure out the location of the closest hospital. The Army Corps of Engineers said work had begun to close a drainage canal leading to Lake Pontchartrain, in an attempt to seal off New Orleans from the lake as a prelude to draining the water that poured in when parts of levees failed. At the 17th Street Canal, which was breached, engineers began driving in sheets of metal about 50 feet by five feet to create a makeshift metal wall and close off the canal. Efforts were hampered by a moderate rain that made it hard for cranes to grip the sheets of metal, but an engineer said he expected the work to be finished early today. Contractors also hauled in rock to build a ramp so crews could reach the actual breach to repair it. Helicopters were seen continuing to dump giant sandbags on the breach, despite earlier accounts from officials who said the sandbag effort had been abandoned. Repair of another breach, on the London Avenue canal, which also feeds into the lake, was hampered by a lack of access. One engineer said crews were digging up asphalt from a nearby roadway and dumping it on that breach. No one could put a firm cost on the temporary repairs. "We're doing everything humanly possible to stop the flow of water," said Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, chief of engineers for the Corps of Engineers. "It's going to cost what it's going to cost." --Kris Hudson and Aaron Lucchetti in New Orleans, Gary McWilliams in Houston, David Rogers and Michael Schroeder in Washington, and Ann Carrns in Atlanta contributed to this article. Write to John D. McKinnon at john.mckinnon@wsj.com28, Yochi Dreazen at yochi.dreazen@wsj.com29 and Evelina Shmukler at evelina.shmukler@dowjones.com30
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