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Updates as they come in on Katrina

09:21 AM CDT on Thursday, September 1, 2005

Tom Planchet

9:20 A.M. - President Bush will tour the devastated areas Friday.

9:15 A.M. - Gordon Burgess, Tangipahoa President: Some electrical power throughout the parish…North Oaks Hospital is operating, part of Pontchatula is working, but Amite has no power…No loss of life due to the storm…Advises residents to stay out of the parish to allow all relief effort to go unimpeded...A curfew is established.

8:53 A.M. - (AP): Companies move to give millions in relief.

WHAT'S BEING OFFERED

-- Companies are donating money and goods for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

-- American Red Cross says at least 30 companies had made donations by Wednesday morning.

-- The number is expected to climb.

-- U.S. Chamber of Commerce says initial corporate donations could total more than $100 million.

SOME MONETARY DONATIONS

-- Chevron: $5 million.

-- JPMorgan Chase: $3 million.

-- Citigroup: $3 million.

-- Walt Disney Co.: $2.5 million.

-- Pfizer: $2 million.

-- Abbott Laboratories: $2 million.

-- State Farm: $1 million.

-- EDS: Will match employee contributions up to $1 million.

HEALTH CARE DONATIONS

-- Eli Lilly: 40,000 vials of refrigerated insulin.

-- Wyeth: antibiotics and nonprescription pain relievers.

-- Merck: antibiotics and hepatitis A vaccines.

-- Johnson & Johnson: Pain relievers, wound care supplies and kits containing toothbrushes, soap and shampoo.

-- Abbott Laboratories: At least $2 million in nutritional and medical products.

SOME OTHER DONATIONS

-- Nissan: 50 trucks for Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

-- General Motors: 25 cars and trucks to the Red Cross.

-- Sprint Nextel: 3,000 walkie talkie-type phones for emergency personnel.

-- Qwest Communications: 2,000 long-distance calling cards.

-- Kellogg: Seven truckloads of crackers and cookies.

-- Culligan International: Five truckloads of water.

-- Anheuser-Busch: more than 825,000 cans of water.

-- Office Depot: Contents of its five New Orleans stores, valued at $4 million.

8:50 A.M. - (AP): -- The world is reacting to America's disaster. Saudi Arabia says it's ready to increase crude oil production to replace market shortages. Venezuela is offering humanitarian aid and fuel. Canada's Red Cross is assembling volunteers. French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sent messages of sympathy to President Bush.

Pope Benedict says he's praying for victims of the "tragic" hurricane while China's President Hu Jintao expressed his belief that the American people would "rebuild their beautiful homeland."

But not all responses were positive. Islamic extremists are rejoicing. Internet chatter referred to the storm as "Private" Katrina, and said it had joined the global holy war against the U.S.

8:40 A.M - WWL-TV: The Wisconsin National Guard will provide 500 troops to New Orleans.

8:33 A.M. - New Orleans Police officer Jarrod Mayberry said he and his brother, Jerry, left town because of the lack of communication and leadership from their commanding officers.

Jamal Mayberry said looters are breaking into people’s houses.

“The city should have been better prepared,” Jamal said.

Jamal said he will move his family to Texas as a result of this disaster.

8:13 A.M. - Mike Madison, CEO Cleco: It's going to be weeks, and for some, months in getting the power back to the Northshore.

8:01 A.M. - St. Tammany spokesperson: All routes from the Northshore to Metairie and New Orleans are closed. People are trying to get to those areas through the Northshore and are running out of fuel.

7:46 A.M. - St. Tammany spokesperson: No emergency worker or parish official or law enforcement official was hurt during the storm.

7:45 A.M. - St. Tammany spokesperson: People trying to return are getting stuck in parish because there is no fuel to get out.

7:44 A.M. - St. Tammany spokesperson: Every building in Madisonville had water inside.

7:37 A.M. - (AP) The evacuation of the Superdome was suspended Thursday after shots were fired at a military helicopter, an ambulance official overseeing the operation said. No immediate injuries were reported.

"We have suspended operations until they gain control of the Superdome," said Richard Zeuschlag, head of Acadian Ambulance, which was handling the evacuation of sick and injured people from the Superdome.

He said that military would not fly out of the Superdome either because of the gunfire and that the National Guard told him that it was sending 100 military police officers to gain control.

"That's not enough," Zeuschlag. "We need a thousand."

7:00 A.M. - "For the next two or three months, in this area, there will not be any commerce, at all. No electricity, no restaurants. This is the real deal. It's not living conditions." -- New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

6:17 A.M. - (AP) - Responding to reports of widespread looting, the president says there should be "zero-tolerance" for lawbreakers during the disaster. Bush says he's told law officials to move against anyone who engages in looting, price-gouging, insurance fraud or any other crime to take advantage of the situation.

6:15 A.M. - (AP) Managers at the Covenant Home nursing center were prepared to cope with power outages and supply shortages following Hurricane Katrina. They weren't ready for looters. The nursing home lost its bus after the driver surrendered it to carjackers. Groups of people then drove by the center, shouting to residents, "Get out!"

On Wednesday, 80 residents, most of them in wheelchairs, were evacuated to other nursing homes in the state.

"We had excellent plans. We had enough food for 10 days," said Peggy Hoffman, the home's executive director. "Now we'll have to equip our department heads with guns and teach them how to shoot."

6:12 A.M. (AP) - WASHINGTON -- President Bush says he understands the frustration of people wanting help along the Gulf Coast and promises "the most massive federal relief effort ever."

6:03 A.M. (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of Americans are now refugees. Some say they'll return to the homes they abandoned because of Hurricane Katrina, but others are calling it a day.

One New Orleans man sheltering in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, says "We got nothing."

A poker dealer from Biloxi says it's "just awful" and that she wants to get out of Southern Mississippi, where she's stranded.

Shonna Riggs says her forced exodus to Texas from a small town in Louisiana has been "very expensive" and she's not "used to the hustle and bustle" of Houston.

Another Louisiana woman staying in Houston says, "We're all a mess." Hoanne Hobson says she doesn't know what to do next.

5:55 A.M. - State of Louisiana Military Department: The Governor's office has requested the use of school busses from Louisiana schools to help with the evacuation of New Orleans, please advise your viewers to check with their local school systems in regards to closures today.

5:33 A.M. - (AP) -Service station manager Randy Schuette is getting quite a workout changing the gasoline prices on his station's large sign.

"I bet I'm not done, either," he said Wednesday, hoisting price placards with a 20-foot pole at his station in Bismarck, N.D. At one point, he ran out of decimals, so a gallon's cost read $317.

"I don't have any three's with decimal points," he said. "Never needed them. I'm assuming people know that it's not $317 a gallon, but the day's not over yet, either."

Price hikes were evident at stations nationwide Wednesday as gasoline costs breached $3 a gallon in numerous states, the result of fuel pipeline shutdowns and delayed deliveries since Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and Mississippi earlier this week.

Gas prices jumped by more than 50 cents a gallon Wednesday in Ohio, 40 cents in Georgia and 30 cents in Maine. The increases followed price spikes on wholesale and futures markets Tuesday after the hurricane knocked off-line refineries and pipeline links along the Gulf Coast that provide about a third of the country's gasoline supplies.

2:20 A.M. - AP: Four more buses have arrived in Houston with Superdome refugees.

1:11 A.M. - AP: The weary, disheartened residents of the sweltering Superdome began making their way to Houston's Astrodome on Wednesday, with the first group of about 50 arriving about 12:30 a.m. CDT Thursday.

Harris County Judge Robert Eckels said the 40-year-old Astrodome is "not suited well" for such a large crowd long-term, but officials are prepared to house the displaced New Orleanians as long as possible.

"This is a city of 20,000 people that is going to be here for a while," Eckels said. "The Dome will be fine for a few days. It could even go for weeks for some of these folks."

1:08 A.M. - AP: Late Wednesday, Tenet Healthcare Corp. asked Louisiana State Police and the U.S. Coast Guard to help evacuate one of its hospitals in Gretna after a supply truck carrying food, water, medical supplies and pharmaceuticals was held up by gunmen.

"We have to close it down because we can no longer ensure the safety of our patients or our staff in that hospital," Tenet spokesman Steven Campanini said of the 203-bed Meadowcrest Hospital.

He said there were about 350 employees and between 125 to 150 patients inside the hospital, which is not flooded and is functioning.

1:06 A.M. - CNN: Officials are confirming that the second Orleans Parish school bus to arrive at Houston's Astrodome was another "renegade bus" and not from the Superdome. The Astrodome will take in refugees from all three buses.

12:38 A.M. - CNN: Two more buses have arrived at Houston's Astrodome. One of the buses, an Sierra Trailways tour bus, has been confirmed by Harris County officials as part of the official caravan from the Superdome. Officials were not able to confirm the status of the other, an Orleans Parish School Bus.

12:35 A.M. - AP: Harris County judge Robert Eckels said that the bus was driven by a young person who found it in New Orleans, picked up a bunch of others and drove it to Houston.

THURSDAY 12:29 A.M. - CNN: A Harris County judge is now describing an Orleans Parish bus that arrived at Houston's Astrodome late Wednesday night as a "renegade" bus, CNN reports. Astrodome officials were not expecting a caravan of Greyhound buses carrying Superdome evacuees until Thursday

9:17 P.M. - E-mail report from viewer Jorge Bravo: My good friend, Mark Ottman, from Berkeley, CA, has been staying at the Fairmont since Friday. I haven't been able to get through to him today, but I did speak to him last night, using the main hotel phone number. He told me that were guests still trapped there, staff, and even families of staff, who have moved into the hotel. He estimated about 1000 people there, with a lot of people camped out in the halls. There's no plumbing, no electricity, no water, and no food. As of last night there was a couple of feet of water on Baronne St.; I suspect it got higher today. I was able to reach the hotel operator again today, but not my friend. The operator said that as of early this afternoon there hadn't been any evacuations. Hope this info helps. I would be grateful for any info you might have.