Fights and gunfire break out as New Orleans slips into anarchy

[Holly]

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 1
By ADAM NOSSITER Associated Press Writer

Storm victims were raped and beaten, fights and fires broke out, corpses lay out in the open, and rescue helicopters and law enforcement officers were shot at as flooded-out New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday. "This is a desperate SOS," the mayor said.

Anger mounted across the ruined city, with thousands of storm victims increasingly hungry, desperate and tired of waiting for buses to take them out.

"We are out here like pure animals. We don't have help," the Rev. Issac Clark, 68, said outside the New Orleans Convention Center, where corpses lay in the open and the and other evacuees complained that they were dropped off and given nothing - no food, no water, no medicine.

About 15,000 to 20,000 people who had taken shelter at the convention center to await buses grew increasingly hostile. Police Chief Eddie Compass said he sent in 88 officers to quell the situation at the building, but they were quickly beaten back by an angry mob.

"We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten," Compass said. "Tourists are walking in that direction and they are getting preyed upon."

In hopes of defusing the unrest at the convention center, Mayor Ray Nagin gave the refugees permission to march across a bridge to the city's unflooded west bank for whatever relief they can find. But the bedlam at the appeared to make leaving difficult.

A military heliocpter tried to land at the convention center several times to drop off food and water. But the rushing crowd forced the choppers to back off. Troopers then tossed the supplies to the crowd from 10 feet off the ground and flew away.

Major developments in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Lootings, carjacking and other violence spread in the Gulf Coast region, and the military says it expects to increase National Guard deployment to 30,000 from around the country to help with security, rescue and relief.
Authorities in Mississippi say the number of confirmed deaths has reached 121.
The first of nearly 25,000 refugees being sheltered at the Superdome in New Orleans arrive at Houston's Astrodome, where they will stay until floodwaters recede. Texas officials say plan in the works to bring another 25,000 refugees to San Antonio.
At the Superdome, tempers and fires flare as frustration grows among the thousands remaining there. Helicopter transfers of the sick and injured there are suspended amid security concerns.
President Bush plans to tour the region on Friday. He warns against looting and price-gouging and asks his father, former President Bush, and former President Clinton to lead a fund-raising campaign for victims.
The administration works to put a price tag on the government's share of the recovery effort, to be submitted as an emergency budget request to Congress.
Former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, now president of the Urban League, calls for a relief effort "of 9-11 proportions."
Gasoline supplies tighten in markets that depend on Gulf Coast refiners, and prices rise well above $3 a gallon. Some retailers overrun by motorists wanting to beat further increases.
Wynton Marsalis, Usher, John Mellencamp and Green Day say they will participate in telethons to raise funds for the Red Cross and other organizations. Jerry Lewis' annual Labor Day fundraiser will join in as well.

National Guardsmen poured in to help restore order and put a stop to the looting, carjackings and gunfire that have gripped New Orleans in the days since Hurricane Katrina plunged much of the city under water.

In a statement to CNN, Nagin said: "This is a desperate SOS. Right now we are out of resources at the convention center and don't anticipate enough buses. We need buses. Currently the convention center is unsanitary and unsafe and we're running our of supplies."

In Washington, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the government is sending in 1,400 National Guardsmen a day to help stop looting and other lawlessness in New Orleans. Already, 2,800 National Guardsmen are in the city, he said.

But across the flooded-out city, the rescuers themselves came under attack from storm victims.

"Hospitals are trying to evacuate," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesan, spokesman at the city emergency operations center. "At every one of them, there are reports that as the helicopters come in people are shooting at them. There are people just taking potshots at police and at helicopters, telling them, `You better come get my family."'

Some Federal Emergency Management rescue operations were suspended in areas where gunfire has broken out, Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said in Washington. "In areas where our employees have been determined to potentially be in danger, we have pulled back," he said.

A National Guard military policeman was shot in the leg as he and a man scuffled for the MP's rifle, police Capt. Ernie Demmo said. The man was arrested.

"These are good people. These are just scared people," Demmo said.

Outside the Convention Center, the sidewalks were packed with people without food, water or medical care, and with no sign of law enforcement. Thousands of storm refugees had been assembling outside for days, waiting for buses that did not come.

At least seven bodies were scattered outside, and hungry people broke through the steel doors to a food service entrance and began pushing out pallets of water and juice and whatever else they could find.

An old man in a chaise lounge lay dead in a grassy median as hungry babies wailed around him. Around the corner, an elderly woman lay dead in her wheelchair, covered with a blanket, and another body lay beside her wrapped in a sheet.

"I don't treat my dog like that," 47-year-old Daniel Edwards said as he pointed at the woman in the wheelchair. "I buried my dog." He added: "You can do everything for other countries but you can't do nothing for your own people. You can go overseas with the military but you can't get them down here."

The street outside the center, above the floodwaters, smelled of urine and feces, and was choked with dirty diapers, old bottles and garbage.

"They've been teasing us with buses for four days," Edwards said.

People chanted, "Help, help!" as reporters and photographers walked through. The crowd got angry when journalists tried to photograph one of the bodies, and covered it over with a blanket. A woman, screaming, went on the front steps of the convention center and led the crowd in reciting the 23rd Psalm.

John Murray, 52, said: "It's like they're punishing us."

Dangers lurking in New Orleans

CONTAMINATED WATER

Drinking water systems are no longer functioning.
Sewage is floating in flood waters.
Bacterial or viral diseases put into the sewer system before the flooding are now in the water inundating New Orleans.
One expert says that could mean "a lot of gastrointestinal and public health issues."
Chemicals in flood waters.
Mixed into floodwaters are leaking fuels and oils from gas stations and submerged cars, paints and solvents from small businesses and household cleaners and pesticides from peoples' homes.
One bright spot: big chemical plants and refineries south and east of New Orleans were spared a direct hit, which could have added heavy petroleum, hydrocarbons or chlorine gas to the mix.
WILDLIFE

Area has alligators.
Area has poisonous snakes, including cottonmouths.
Clumps of red ants have been seen floating in the floodwaters.
Mosquitoes could spread illnesses.
Displaced animals, including rodents and pets, must compete with humans for food and shelter.
OTHER DANGERS

Looting, shootings, gunfire and carjackings have spread in the days after the hurricane hit.
Fights and trash fires have broken out.
Bodies of the dead have been left unattended in the streets.
(Sources: Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries)

The Superdome, where some 25,000 people were being evacuated by bus to the Houston Astrodome, descended into chaos as well.


Huge crowds, hoping to finally escape the stifling confines of the stadium, jammed the main concourse outside the dome, spilling out over the ramp to the Hyatt hotel next door - a seething sea of tense, unhappy, people packed shoulder-to-shoulder up to the barricades where heavily armed National Guardsmen stood.

At the front of the line, heavily armed policemen and guardsmen stood watch and handed out water as tense and exhausted crowds struggled onto buses. At the back end of the line, people jammed against police barricades in the rain. Luggage, bags of clothes, pillows, blankets were strewn in the puddles.

Many people had dogs and they cannot take them on the bus. A police officer took one from a little boy, who cried until he vomited. "Snowball, snowball," he cried. The policeman told a reporter he didn't know what would happen to the dog.

Fights broke out. A fire erupted in a trash chute inside the dome, but a National Guard commander said it did not affect the evacuation. After a traffic jam kept buses from arriving at the Superdome for nearly four hours, a near-riot broke out in the scramble to get on the buses that finally did show up.

Col. Henry Whitehorn, head of state police, said authorities are working on establishing a temporary jail to hold people accused of looting and other crimes. "These individuals will not take control of the city of New Orleans," he said.

The first of hundreds of busloads of people evacuated from the Superdome arrived early Thursday at their new temporary home - another sports arena, the Houston Astrodome, 350 miles away.

But the ambulance service in charge of taking the sick and injured from the Superdome suspended flights after a shot was reported fired at a military helicopter. Richard Zuschlag, chief of Acadian Ambulance, said it was too dangerous for his pilots.

The military, which was overseeing the removal of the able-bodied by buses, continued the ground evacuation without interruption, said National Guard Lt. Col. Pete Schneider. The government had no immediate confirmation of whether a military helicopter was fired on.

Terry Ebbert, head of the city's emergency operations, warned that the slow evacuation at the Superdome had become an "incredibly explosive situation," and he bitterly complained that FEMA was not offering enough help.

"This is a national emergency. This is a national disgrace," he said. "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."

In Texas, the governor's office said Texas has agreed to take in an additional 25,000 refugees from Katrina and plans to house them in San Antonio, though exactly where has not been determined.

In Washington, the White House said President Bush will tour the devastated Gulf Coast region on Friday and has asked his father and former President Clinton to lead a private fund-raising campaign for victims.

The president urged a crackdown on the lawlessness.

"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."

On Wednesday, Mayor Ray Nagin offered the most startling estimate yet of the magnitude of the disaster: Asked how many people died in New Orleans, he said: "Minimum, hundreds. Most likely, thousands." The death toll has already reached at least 126 in Mississippi.

If the estimate proves correct, it would make Katrina the worst natural disaster in the United States since at least the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, which was blamed for anywhere from about 500 to 6,000 deaths. Katrina would also be the nation's deadliest hurricane since 1900, when a storm in Galveston, Texas, killed between 6,000 and 12,000 people.

Nagin called for a total evacuation of New Orleans, saying the city had become uninhabitable for the 50,000 to 100,000 who remained behind after the city of nearly a half-million people was ordered cleared out over the weekend.

The mayor said that it will be two or three months before the city is functioning again and that people would not be allowed back into their homes for at least a month or two.

"We need an effort of 9-11 proportions," former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, now president of the Urban League, said on NBC's "Today" show.

"A great American city is fighting for its life," he added. "We must rebuild New Orleans, the city that gave us jazz, and music, and multiculturalism."

Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu toured the stricken areas said rescued people begged him to pass information to their families. His pocket was full of scraps of paper on which he had scribbled down their phone numbers.

When he got a working phone in the early morning hours Thursday, he contacted a woman whose father had been rescued and told her: "Your daddy's alive, and he said to tell you he loves you."

"She just started crying. She said, `I thought he was dead,"' he said.

---



I thought i shared that with you

[Kay Scarpetta]

Oh my God. It's bringing shivers to me... it's absolutely horrible down there, isn't it? These poor people. This has gotta be by far the worst hurricane ever to hit the U.S.

The part about the boy with the dog made me cry. That's so sad... this is all so sad.

[The Chauffeur]

Originally Posted by Kay Scarpetta

Oh my God. It's bringing shivers to me... it's absolutely horrible down there, isn't it? These poor people. This has gotta be by far the worst hurricane ever to hit the U.S.

The part about the boy with the dog made me cry. That's so sad... this is all so sad.

People all over the net want to know what happened to Snowball (the dog)

[Brent88]

Originally Posted by Kay Scarpetta

Oh my God. It's bringing shivers to me... it's absolutely horrible down there, isn't it? These poor people. This has gotta be by far the worst hurricane ever to hit the U.S.

Yep... I've got the figures in front of me

Deadliest hurricane: Galveston 1900... estimated 8,000 killed
Costliest hurricane: Andrew 1992... $21 billion

I know it's going to beat Andrew, and the way things are going, it's going to beat Galveston. The big difference is however... there were no warnings in 1900. There were PLENTY of warnings for this and people could have left if they wanted to. The evacuation for New Orleans was issued WAY too late... when conditions were already beginning to deteroiate.

[Kay Scarpetta]

Originally Posted by wynter72

People all over the net want to know what happened to Snowball (the dog)

The whole situation in New Orleans is horrible. Someone I know's aunt is missing, and I've met the aunt. Such a sweet person. To make matters 80 times worse, she's blind. If she's not dead, she's sure as hell lost.

People are screaming about lack of help from the Federal government (note: no, I do not mean Bush. I mean the WHOLE government of this country). Brent was right, the evacuation was issued far too late, Katrina was already approaching rapidly.

The story of Snowball broke my heart. I know most of society's main concern is the people, but for all the people who are animal lovers, I wish we could do something. I wish I could just fly down and round up all the animals and we could put them in a temporary shelter and give them food, and when things settle down (eventually?) the owners could come claim them. I know I probably sound like I don't care about the people, but I honestly do care... I just care about animals, too. I would die if something ever happened to my cat, just die.

Ugh... this situation is just beyond words.

[The Chauffeur]

Originally Posted by Kay Scarpetta

The whole situation in New Orleans is horrible. Someone I know's aunt is missing, and I've met the aunt. Such a sweet person. To make matters 80 times worse, she's blind. If she's not dead, she's sure as hell lost.

People are screaming about lack of help from the Federal government (note: no, I do not mean Bush. I mean the WHOLE government of this country). Brent was right, the evacuation was issued far too late, Katrina was already approaching rapidly.

The story of Snowball broke my heart. I know most of society's main concern is the people, but for all the people who are animal lovers, I wish we could do something. I wish I could just fly down and round up all the animals and we could put them in a temporary shelter and give them food, and when things settle down (eventually?) the owners could come claim them. I know I probably sound like I don't care about the people, but I honestly do care... I just care about animals, too. I would die if something ever happened to my cat, just die.

Ugh... this situation is just beyond words.

I know, it's very frustrating, my friend's brother is missing along with his wife and his new born baby girl, I've been manning the net and news for him as he has no computer or cable tv (which is one reason why I've been lurking around here so much) so i haven't slept much at all.
I've been in near hysterics about the animals there, they are investigating the deaths of 3 displaced sealions, meaning that wasn't natural causes. I've been talking to my husband about training for animal rescue and am SERIOUSLY considering going down and joining the animal rescue. It's just too close to my heart not to.
As far as the state of the city, I think this should call for some major changes, especially in the justice system. If it worked, then there wouldn't be little children being raped in the streets of our own country
In some ways to me this is worse than 911, they are doing this to their own people!

[Kay Scarpetta]

Originally Posted by wynter72

I know, it's very frustrating, my friend's brother is missing along with his wife and his new born baby girl, I've been manning the net and news for him as he has no computer or cable tv (which is one reason why I've been lurking around here so much) so i haven't slept much at all.
I've been in near hysterics about the animals there, they are investigating the deaths of 3 displaced sealions, meaning that wasn't natural causes. I've been talking to my husband about training for animal rescue and am SERIOUSLY considering going down and joining the animal rescue. It's just too close to my heart not to.
As far as the state of the city, I think this should call for some major changes, especially in the justice system. If it worked, then there wouldn't be little children being raped in the streets of our own country
In some ways to me this is worse than 911, they are doing this to their own people!

I wish I could fly down to help. Ugh, I'd do ANYTHING. I'm thinking of donating to the Noah's Wish website. They have excellent evacuation plans for animals incase of emergency. I'm in New England, so we're not prone to anything much except blizzards, but you never know what could happen. I refuse to loose my cat incase of a disaster.

[The Chauffeur]

Originally Posted by Kay Scarpetta

I wish I could fly down to help. Ugh, I'd do ANYTHING. I'm thinking of donating to the Noah's Wish website. They have excellent evacuation plans for animals incase of emergency. I'm in New England, so we're not prone to anything much except blizzards, but you never know what could happen. I refuse to loose my cat incase of a disaster.

I know how you feel, we have six housecats and one golden retriever ( 4 of the cats and my pooch are rescues ) 2 of the cats were locked in an apartment for 2 months alone, 1 snuck out somehow and got pregnant. we kept two of those offsprings after failing to find them a home, my dog Bandit, is an even sadder story, he had his jaw smashed in with a baseball bat by a punk teenager and his owner couldn't afford to even feed him anymore, luckily my best friends dad took it apon themselves to pay for all of his reconstructive surgery and decided he'de be happy with us, so we took him. And even after everything that dog has been through, his most favorite thing in the world is meeting people! They have been through too much allready, that's why i guard them with my life

[Kay Scarpetta]

Originally Posted by wynter72

I know how you feel, we have six housecats and one golden retriever ( 4 of the cats and my pooch are rescues ) 2 of the cats were locked in an apartment for 2 months alone, 1 snuck out somehow and got pregnant. we kept two of those offsprings after failing to find them a home, my dog Bandit, is an even sadder story, he had his jaw smashed in with a baseball bat by a punk teenager and his owner couldn't afford to even feed him anymore, luckily my best friends dad took it apon themselves to pay for all of his reconstructive surgery and decided he'de be happy with us, so we took him. And even after everything that dog has been through, his most favorite thing in the world is meeting people! They have been through too much allready, that's why i guard them with my life

Glad to know I'm not the only one who's worried about the animals. I'm worried about all the poor people too, but animals just have such a special place in my

[TripperFan]

Originally Posted by Kay Scarpetta

I wish I could fly down to help. Ugh, I'd do ANYTHING. I'm thinking of donating to the Noah's Wish website. They have excellent evacuation plans for animals incase of emergency. I'm in New England, so we're not prone to anything much except blizzards, but you never know what could happen. I refuse to loose my cat incase of a disaster.

Thanks for mentioning that website. (Noah's Wish). I'm going to donate also (already have to the American Humane Society) but will do them also.

I know human life takes precidence right now, but we've been thinking of the animals too. I can't imagine being forced to evacuate without my "babies". I honestly wouldn't and couldn't leave without them. I'd rather die first trying to ensure their safety.

It would be so great if buses could be provided for people with pets. I'm going to phone my aunt in Dallas to see if she knows of anything being done or could arrange something. She's a member of several animal causes and might be able to organize something. If I have to, I'll fly down to assist her.

This whole thing is starting to sound like "Escape From New York" and when I saw that, I couldn't believe it could happen, but it looks like it can.

[The Chauffeur]

Originally Posted by TripperFan

Thanks for mentioning that website. (Noah's Wish). I'm going to donate also (already have to the American Humane Society) but will do them also.

I know human life takes precidence right now, but we've been thinking of the animals too. I can't imagine being forced to evacuate without my "babies". I honestly wouldn't and couldn't leave without them. I'd rather die first trying to ensure their safety.

It would be so great if buses could be provided for people with pets. I'm going to phone my aunt in Dallas to see if she knows of anything being done or could arrange something. She's a member of several animal causes and might be able to organize something. If I have to, I'll fly down to assist her.

This whole thing is starting to sound like "Escape From New York" and when I saw that, I couldn't believe it could happen, but it looks like it can.

I have noah's wish in my sig along with other links if you need em

[The Chauffeur]

WOW!!! my friends brother and his brother has been found! he is in Texas and is fine! I just found out! I'm so happy about that right now, finally happiness. But a funny side note..... Apparently one of his brothers was on Bill O'Reilly the other night and supplied some comic relief. His first words was "I got off the roof thanks to my close friend and personal savior" and the last thing he did was drop the F bomb! His eyes bugged out of his head and his hand smacked over his mouth after he realized what he said, I couldn't help but to laugh! I had my suspicions that was him, but we couldn't decifer it from my descriptions.

[EmoJoe]

Thats horrible

[Max Whittaker]

There is talk among my peers that Americorps will send some of us volunteers to one of the disaster areas. When they do that, I will volunteer my services.

[*Pleasant Tomorrow*]

That's just awful what's going on down there And the dog...that part to me was awful, too.