I guess they can't turn off the natural gas because the pipes are underwater? (I don't know much about it either). But fires after floods are a common occurrence. Some of it down there is arson; some is carelessness...people trying to cook on propane stoves, etc.
They've got to force all those people out of there. Just remove them. The situation gets worse every day.
I saw Amanpour on CNN at the morgue that has been set up in Saint Gabriel....it is a huge place. They are expecting thousands of bodies. Christiane says we will be shocked once more when the water recedes enough to reveal all the bodies inside buildings.
My husband and I have remarked a few times, that it might not be so bad to just let parts of the city just burn, burn to the ground.
They are going to have to tear down most of the homes and businesses anyway..
I would try to save any historic district and of course the French Quarter and all that....but the neighborhoods that still have water up to the roofs...
Perhaps the main reason for NOT allowing them to burn down, is that they still need to look for the people...the ones that may still be there and the family that needs to know.