President Bush: "We are dealing with one of the worst national disasters in our nation's history." Push has appropriated vast federal resources to assist with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
78,000 people are currently in shelters. New Orleans evacuation continues. 10,000 additional National Guard troops have been called to service.
Hospitals are running low on supplies, and public health concerns include water borne disease, poor sanitation, food and drinking water contamination and shortages, mosquitoes, carbon monixide poisoning from electricity generators, lack of childcare, and the special needs of the elderly.
From: WWLTV: http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html
08:44 PM CDT on Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Tom Planchet
8:44 P.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Gov. Kathleen Blanco bristled at suggestions Louisiana perhaps didn't make enough preparations for a devastating hurricane, possibly worsening the devastation.
"We begged all of those people, the mayors begged those people, the parish presidents begged those people to get out," she said at a press briefing when questioned about the state's preparedness efforts.
8:41 P.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- More than 7,600 prisoners had to be moved from jails in the New Orleans area because of flooding and unsanitary conditions caused by Hurricane Katrina -- prompting such widespread rumors of riots and jail breaks that Corrections Secretary Richard Stalder focused Wednesday on setting the story straight during a briefing with reporters.
"We cannot find any credible intelligence that the kinds of things that had been reported have happened," he said.
8:39 P.M. - EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) -- A Madison County, Illinois, prosecutor is leaving this week for the Gulf Coast to offer assistance to some lower profile hurricane victims -- family pets.
Amy Maher is a coordinator for a national organization called Noah's Wish, which works to save as many pets as possible during such catastrophes.
More than a hundred Noah's Wish volunteers are expected to arrive in Louisiana tomorrow.
Various Louisiana animal welfare groups are managing animal evacuations and recovery plans for New Orleans pets and displaced animals.
The Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association is currently accepting pets at the Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette, LSU in Shreveport, the Monroe Civic Center for small animals and the Ike Hamilton Center for large animals in Monroe.
Pets are also being accepted at the Farmer's Market in Alexandria, and the LSU Agriculture Center at Parker Coliseum in Baton Rouge.
8:37 P.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- It's an engineering problem that hasn't been solved: How do you plug a broken floodwall and drain a city that is submerged in water in many areas? Officials acknowledge plans to "unwater New Orleans" have failed, have been redrawn and are continuing to evolve.
The first was to use helicopters to drop hefty sandbags and giant concrete barriers to plug the hole in the floodwall of a canal which usually drains water from New Orleans and Jefferson Parish.
Crews had already moved in the 250 concrete walls and hundreds of sandbags when the problems cropped up. Transportation and engineering officials questioned whether the original structure was sound enough to hold against the pressure from the water.
So, they tweaked the plans and were working to hire a contractor to drive steel, sheet metal pilings down across the canal to stop water in the lake from moving into the canal before it ever got to the floodwall.
That still was difficult. The pilings need to go down beyond 30 feet to fully block the flow of water, according to Michael B. Rogers, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In the meantime, the corps was planning to punch deliberate breaches into the levee system along Lake Pontchartrain, moving from east to west, cutting notches that would let the water flow back out of New Orleans and into the lake, Rogers said. "People are in the air right now locating the best places to do that," Rogers said Wednesday.
7:53 P.M. - Cleco estimates one month minimum to get power back to all customers.
7:52 P.M. - State school superintendent asks other districts around the state to take in schoolchildren displaced by the storms. The latest update on Louisiana schools from the state Department of Education.
7:32 P.M. - N.O. Mayor Ray Nagin declares Martial law in the city and directs the city's 1,500-person police force to do "whatever it takes" to gain back control of the city. He will also enlist the aid of troops.
7:20 P.M. - Pharmaceutical companies rounded up much-needed medicine, water suppliers loaded trucks with thirst-quenching cargo and companies from petroleum giants to beer makers pitched in millions in cash and products Wednesday to help communities battered by Hurricane Katrina.
The efforts to collect money and goods to help the Gulf Coast rebuild gathered momentum Wednesday as officials continued assessing the damage from one of the nation's worst natural disasters.
American Red Cross spokeswoman Sarah Marchetti said at least 30 companies had made donations by Wednesday morning, and the number was expected to climb.
"They've been pouring in," she said.
In Indianapolis, drug maker Eli Lilly & Co. prepared to send 40,000 vials of refrigerated insulin to patients in the Southeast, along with at least $1 million in cash to the American Red Cross.
"We're poised to ship as soon as we get the OK," Lilly spokesman Edward Sagebiel said.
7:17 P.M. - Cleco says it's likely that a tornado touched down in Eden Isles.
7:12 P.M. - (AP) -- New Orleans Mayor Ray says he's not taking any criticism from people stranded in New Orleans personally.
Nagin says he understands the city's residents are frustrated, hot, angry and in a state of shock.
But Nagin insists he wants everyone out of the Superdome by tomorrow (Thursday) because they have been stretched to the breaking point and he can't stand to see them in that condition any longer.
7:11 P.M. Governor Blanco on looting: We will do what it takes to bring law and order to our area. This is not a place for that behavior. I'm furious. It's intolerable.
7:05 P.M. Click for 7 p.m. Northshore update.
5:43 P.M. - WWL-TV: An Army Corps of Engineers spokesman said they are beginning to drop sandbags and into the levee breach, and will drive metal sheet pilings to seal off the canal in order to fully repair the breach.
5:40 P.M. - WWL-TV: Walter Maestri voiced his concern that relief isn't coming fast enough for the evacuees.
5:32 P.M. - WWL-TV: 10 to 15 feet of water still in some areas. The river levee was damaged, eroded during the storm.
5:26 P.M. - (AP) Health and Human Services Department declares a public health emergency, sends medical supplies, hospital beds and public health officers.
5:23 P.M. - (AP) If Mayor Nagin's estimate that thousands perished under Hurricane Katrina is true, this would be the nation's deadliest natural disaster since at least the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
5:20 P.M. - Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti said temporary prison and court rooms will be built in order to maintain the justice system in the area.
5:17 P.M. - Officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimate it will be weeks before all the water that flowed into the city through breached levees can be pumped back out. After that, it will take several years -- and many billions of dollars -- to rebuild homes, offices, streets and highways. Click here.
5:10 P.M. - AUSTIN, TX (AP): Texas public schools will enroll children of Hurricane Katrina refugees sheltered within each district.
The Texas Education Agency has been directed to provide all needed support for districts having to absorb children from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. TEA has said the refugee children can qualify as "homeless" and may enroll without proof of residence.
Also, normal immunization requirements for attending school or child-care facilities in Texas will be temporarily waived for children displaced by the hurricane. Schools are allowed to waive the 22-to-one teacher-student requirement.
Districts with an influx of 50 or more students can get an immediate funding increase, rather than waiting until the end of the school year.
Austin schools are working to ensure the students get backpacks, school supplies and clothes.
5:08 P.M. - (AP): President Bush is warning Americans about the nation's gasoline supply, saying everyone must understand that Hurricane Katrina has had a significant effect.
5:06 P.M. - Plans are in place to begin fixing the broken levee system beginning tomorrow.
5:04 P.M. - Officials are asking anyone with a boat that wants to help with rescue operations to call 225-765-2706.
4:59 P.M. - Because of the evacuation of Orleans Parish prisons and jails, capacity of state prisons has increased 72%. Law enforcement officials said any stories of a massive breakout of Orleans Parish Prison were inaccurate. The prisoners were moved to a nearby on-ramp by guards and were transported to other facilities in the state.
4:50 P.M. - Gov. Blanco: "I want to thank (Texas Governor) Rick Perry (for allowing evacuees to be moved to the Houston Astrodome)." The Governor referred to New Orleans as a "primative site." Blanco said her goal is to save as many people as possible, but had sharp remarks for those who have taken part in any looting going on in the affected areas. "We are going to restore law and order," she said. "We will do whatever it takes."
"Addresses mean nothing at point, because street signs are underwater." - Blanco on the abilities of rescue workers to locate those in trouble, based on specific addresses sent in to emergency operators by family members.
4:38 P.M. - (AP): Some major airlines are canceling flights to New Orleans and Gulfport, Mississippi, until at least next week. The move heats up the financial pressure on the air industry, cutting off two major destinations at the end of the summer tourism season.
4:30 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): An additional 10,000 National Guard troops from across the country began pouring into the Gulf Coast region Wednesday, adding new soldiers and airmen to shore up security, rescue and relief operations in the region ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.
The new units brought the number of troops dedicated to the effort to more than 28,000, in what may be the largest military response to a national disaster.
About one-third of the 21,000 National Guard troops -- who were descending on the Gulf Coast from across the country -- will be used for security, to prevent looting, enforce curfews and enhance local law and order, said Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, commander of U.S. National Guard forces.
4:16 P.M. - President Bush: Recovery "will take years" from the storm that laid waste to the Gulf Coast.
4:15 P.M. - President Bush: 78,000 people are in shelters.
4:12 P.M. - President Bush: We are witnessing one of the worst natural disasters in our history.
Bush: This recovery will take years.
Bush: FIrst priority to save lives. Second to supply food for survivors, rescue workers and other citizens.
4:11 P.M. - BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) -- The scenes of devastation from the Gulf Coast are all too familiar to survivors of the December tsunami in Asia.
A World Bank executive in Sri Lanka says she prays and hopes not many women in the U.S. will suffer as she has. She lost her brother in the December 26 tsunami that raked over Asian nations. She and others have strong memories of the event when they see the destruction left by Hurricane Katrina.
An Indonesian man who lost his wife the tsunami says he would like to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, but all he has is prayers.
Another man, who lost his wife and daughter in December, says, "God has made us equals in birth, life and death."
Though damage from Katrina is enormous, the rising death count is far short of the 200-thousand dead or missing following the tsunami.
4:07 P.M. - LSU offers UNO, Tulane and Loyola students chance to enroll for school at the Baton Rouge campus to continue their learning, waiving most fees for those who have already paid other universities.
4:05 P.M. - LSU football game this weekend postponed due to the stadium area being used to bring in injured and take care of evacuees. Tulane at Southern Miss game postponed.
4:03 P.M. - (AP) Michael Leavitt, secretary of Health and Human Services, announced he had declared a public health emergency in the area stretching from Louisiana to Florida. "We are gravely concerned about the potential for cholera, typhoid and dehydrating diseases that could come as a result of the stagnant water and the conditions," he said.
Chertoff and Leavitt spoke at a news conference attended by an unusual array of department and agency heads, each of whom came equipped with a list of actions already taken by the administration.
For his part, Bush flew over the storm-affected area during the day on his way to Washington from his Texas ranch. With the administration eager to demonstrate a rapid responsiveness to the human tragedy, the president also arranged to make public remarks in the Rose Garden after returning to the White House.
3:55 P.M. - 40-year veteran photographer Willie Wilson: Maybe one other time in my career did I shoot pictures crying.
3:54 P.M. - Wilson: People were passing out in the heat in front of me.
3:52 P.M. - Chalmette man. I spent 40 hours on a roof then God sent a boat from a neighbor's house floating by and we took it to safety.
3:52 P.M. - (AP) Gov. Kathleen Blanco has said that she wants the Superdome evacuated within two days because the situation has been worsening there. The water has been rising, the air conditioning was out and toilets were broken.
3:50 P.M. - Crying woman: "I'll never stay for a hurricane again."
3:49 P.M. - Survivor from Chalmette: We spent two days on a roof, swam to a storefront, food was pouring out, we ate it, we drank the water. We had to do something. There's no help.
3:48 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- From Navy ships and Army helicopters to the USNS Comfort hospital ship, the Pentagon is mobilizing possibly an unprecedented U.S. rescue-and-relief mission for areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
3:47 P.M. - Man rescued after spending night on Chalmette High School roof for two days: "It's all gone."
3:46 P.M. - Tugboat captain: We have so little help. Send us some food and water immediately!
3:45 P.M. (AP) - Hurricane Katrina probably killed thousands of people in New Orleans, the mayor said Wednesday -- an estimate that, if accurate, would make the storm the nation's deadliest natural disaster since at least the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
"We know there is a significant number of dead bodies in the water," and other people dead in attics, Mayor Ray Nagin said. Asked how many, he said: "Minimum, hundreds. Most likely, thousands."
The frightening estimate came as Army engineers struggled to plug New Orleans' breached levees with giant sandbags and concrete barriers, while authorities drew up plans to clear out the tens of thousands of people left in the Big Easy and all but abandon the flooded-out city. Many of the evacuees -- including thousands now staying in the Superdome -- will be moved to the Astrodome in Houston, 350 miles away.
3:44 P.M. - Tugboat captain who rescued those in Chalmette. "Without more help, many people will die."
3:43 P.M. - Photographer Willie Wilson: Those rescued from Chalmette homes are dazed, don't know where they are going and just asking for water and to find family members.
3:42 P.M. - Wilson: You can't fathom it. I've covered tragedies around the world, never thought it would be here.
3:41 P.M. - (AP) -- With law officers and National Guardsmen focused on saving lives, looters around the city spent another day Wednesday brazenly ransacking stores for food, beer, clothing, appliances -- and guns.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco said she has asked the White House to send more people to help with evacuations and rescues, thereby freeing up National Guardsmen to stop looters.
"Once we get the 3,000 National Guardsmen here, we're locking this place down," Mayor Ray Nagin said. "It's really difficult because my opinion of the looting is it started with people running out of food, and you can't really argue with that too much. Then it escalated to this kind of mass chaos where people are taking electronic stuff and all that."
Amid the chaos Wednesday, thieves commandeered a forklift and used it to push up the storm shutters and break the glass of a pharmacy. The crowd stormed the store, carrying out so much ice, water and food that it dropped from their arms as they ran. The street was littered with packages of ramen noodles and other items.
Looters also chased down a state police truck full of food. The New Orleans police chief ran off looters while city officials themselves were commandeering equipment from a looted Office Depot. During a state of emergency, authorities have broad powers to take private supplies and buildings for their use.
3:40 P.M. - WWL photographer Willie Wilson: People being rescued from Chalmette were begging for water, wanted to talk to family members. People rescued in Chalmette were ferried across to Algiers. People hot and parched from days on roof tops.
3:38 P.M. - HOUSTON (AP) -- Red Cross workers today began transforming what was once known as the Eighth Wonder of the World -- into temporary housing.
Buses will shuttle thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees from the Superdome in New Orleans to the vacant Astrodome in Houston.
Cots and blankets for up to 25-thousand people are being set up on the Astrodome floor.
Other areas of the stadium are being configured to accommodate refugees with varying needs, including a nursery. Stadium managers are working to get T-V's and find programming to allow people to keep up with the latest news about flooded New Orleans.
The Astrodome agreement was worked out by Texas Governor Rick Perry and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco.
3:35 P.M. - Truong - Large parts of oak trees down on St. Charles Avenue near Audubon Park.
3:33 P.M. - (AP) -- The latest video from New Orleans shows apartment buildings with people crowded on balconies and roofs. Below, flood waters lap at the second floor. Two children standing on one roof held up a sign that read: "Help us."
A Blackhawk helicopter crew rescued at least eight people from a roof where, in red spray paint, was written the words "Diabetic, Heart Transplant, Need transportation."
Two-by-two, the chopper hoisted the people off the roof as the wash from its rotors blew shingles off another section of the building and caused small waves in the water below.
Other shots show people standing at windows and on balconies, some waving white towels to attract the attention of possible rescuers.
The flood waters cover everything as far as the eye can see.
In the bright sunlight, there's a sheen caused by gasoline seeping from the underground tanks of a gas station. Three people who were standing in the bed of a flooded pickup truck later waded and swam through those waters, trying to reach safety.
3:25 P.M. - Truong: A man said he was carjacked at gunpoint. Other residents of the Uptown-area say they are afraid to leave their homes because of the lack of security.
3:18 P.M. - WWL-TV's Thanh Truong reports the water from the Lake is rising to meet with the River in Uptown.
3:10 P.M. - (AP) President Bush flew overhead in Air Force One to assess the damage in Southeast Louisana and the Gulfport-area of Mississippi. Click here.
3:04 P.M. - Congressman William Jefferson said BET will host a telethon to raise money for the flood victims. The telethon will be Friday, September 9.
3:01 P.M. - The latest video from New Orleans shows apartment buildings with people crowded on balconies and roofs. Below, flood waters lap at the second floor. Two children standing on one roof held up a sign that read: "Help us." Click here.
2:45 P.M. - WWL-TV's Bill Capo reports traffic moving west out of New Orleans is moving slowly but steadily. He said the Baton Rouge Airport is being used as a launchpad for Black Hawk army helicopters and Coast Guard helicopters. At one point during the trip, Capo said the helicopter pilot had to execute an emergency landing at a truck stop parking lot in order to check for mechanical problems.
2:20 P.M. - From Weezie Porter: WWL-TV Sales account executive. I evacuated with my family to Nashville. The people we are staying with have a relative in the Chateau Living Center in Kenner 716 Village Road. Their phone is working from time to time 504-464=0604. They report that all of the nurses have left, Only a few aides left there that have been working since Friday. They were supposed to be evacuated by bus but they did not show up. No medications have been given since Sunday,. 4 patients have died.
2:19 P.M. - (AP) More than 100 Tulane University students displaced by Hurricane Katrina arrived at Southern Methodist University Wednesday, including the entire football team.
2:04 P.M. - WAFB-TV video shows hundreds of people in the Uptown area near Claiborne and Napoleon, stuck in apartments and other buildings and waving for help. Helicopters are rescuing one or two at a time.
2:00 P.M. - Air Force One spotted
1:50 P.M. - Ross: Access limited to Oak Harbor and Eden Isles. Most homes are still standing, but have sustained either water or wind damage, or both.
1:45 P.M. - WWL-TV's Mike Ross says "do not come back (to Slidell and Grand Isle)."
1:39 P.M. - Hoss: Wind damage seen at the Target store on Clearview Pkwy.
1:28 P.M. - WWL-TV's Mike Hoss said the I-10/Causeway interchange has turned into a massive first aid station. 50 ambulances are stationed there, and those who need immediate medical attention are being kept there in tents. Black Hawk helicopters and other rescue copters are constantly ferrying evacuees in to the area.
1:20 P.M. - (AP) Mayor Ray Nagin says at least hundreds of people are dead -- maybe thousands -- in New Orleans. "We know there is a significant number of dead bodies in the water," and others dead in attics, Mayor Ray Nagin said. Asked how many, he said: "Minimum, hundreds. Most likely, thousands."
The officials stalled because there is no defined "other end" to the bus trip.
