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WWL Updates as they come in on Katrina
06:42 AM CDT on Friday, September 2, 2005

Tom Planchet
6:42 A.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is trying to make clear that the government understands how dire the situation is in New Orleans.

There's been a growing chorus of complaints from refugees and the city's mayor, who complain about what they say has been a slow federal response to the hurricane, flooding and lawlessness.

Mayor Ray Nagin said last night that the feds "don't have a clue" about what's happening.

Mike Brown tells CNN he didn't know the New Orleans Convention Center was being used as a staging area for evacuees until he saw news coverage. He blames that on a lack of communication with city officials. As Brown puts it, "we don't know where everybody is."

6:40 A.M. - "New Orleans is an economic disaster. This tragedy is so unprecedented people could be out of work for three, six, nine months or longer," said Rajeev Dhawan, director of the economic forecasting project at Georgia State University.

6:39 A.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lawmakers are demanding an investigation into gasoline prices after thousands of motorists called a government hotline to complain of price gouging.

The Energy Department reported more than 5,000 calls to its price gouging hotline Thursday from around the country, although officials emphasized there was no way to immediately determine how many of the allegations were valid.

6:37 A.M. - The mayor of New Orleans is seething over what he sees as the government's slow response to his city's disaster. Ray Nagin went on WWL Radio last night to say the feds "don't have a clue what's going on." He added, "Excuse my French -- everybody in America -- but I am pissed."

The mayor says he needs troops and hundreds of buses to get refugees out. Nagin accused state and federal officials of "playing games" and "spinning for the cameras." He says he keeps hearing that help is coming, but "there's no beef."