In addition...
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Armed troops rolled into try and restore order to the chaos in New Orleans on Friday, bringing emergency supplies for the desperate survivors of Hurricane Katrina, in the first sign of significant relief after days of delays and broken promises.
The convoy of camouflage-green trucks wound its way through flooded streets, where marauding gangs roamed and corpses rotted in the sun a full four days after the hurricane battered the city.
President George W. Bush visited the stricken area and admitted government aid efforts had been unacceptable, but promised "we're going to make it right."
Sen. Mary Landrieu of Lousiana, traveling with Bush aboard Air Force One, said she told him: "Mr. President, time is of the essence. People are dying by the hour. There are not enough morgues. Please act."
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it may need up to 80 days to drain the floodwaters from the city after Katrina struck Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Monday with 140 mile per hour winds and a huge storm surge.
"We're looking at anywhere from 36 to 80 days to being done," said the Corps' Brig. Gen. Robert Crear.
New Orleans quickly descended into desperation and anarchy after the storm surge breached its protective system of levees, and floodwaters overwhelmed the city.
A trickle of government aid did nothing to stop the chaos that followed.
Scenes of rampant looting and reports that armed gangs had taken over the streets of New Orleans amid a near-complete collapse of order have shocked Americans.
The military convoy's arrival raised hopes that the government might finally be getting a grip on the crisis.
"We got food, water and medical attention. We are gonna get you people out of here," an officer announced through a bullhorn to thousands of hungry and frustrated people who have waited days at the New Orleans Convention Center for evacuation buses that never came.
Some cheered at the announcement, others shouted angrily, wondering what had taken so long.
"They are treating us like we are animals. When they had 9/11, they got them situated," said Terri Dorsey, 49. "Why don't they take care of us?"
"We are throw-away people," said Sherman Wright, 69.
A short distance away the corpse of a woman sat in a lawn chair, a towel draped over her head. She had been there since Thursday, people nearby said.
"It's not our fault. The storm came and flooded the city," said Army Lt. Gen. Russell Honore, a Louisiana native in charge of the military relief effort.
As people lined up to receive food and water from the troops, a soldier recently back from Iraq,
"There were always people in the streets always asking for water and food," said Chad Blocker, 21, of the Arkansas National Guard. "It is kind of the same here except here it is your own people."
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said the troops were going with shoot-to-kill orders. "These troops are battle-tested. They have M-16s and are locked and loaded."
But New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin questioned why they had not come sooner. "People are dying, people have lost their homes, people have lost their jobs. The city of New Orleans will never be the same," he said.
In Washington, the House of Representatives gave final passage to a $10.5 billion emergency-aid bill that Bush was expected to sign later in the day.
Bush walked down a storm-damaged street in downtown Biloxi, Mississippi, and comforted a sobbing woman who told him, "I don't have anything."
The woman, Bronwynne Bassier, 23, and her sister Kim, 21, managed to escape the storm but her house was in ruins. She clutched a black plastic bag she hoped to use to collect some items from what was left of her home.
"Sorry you're going through this," Bush said, hugging both women.
Thousands of people are feared dead in the storm and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said he was furious at the lack of help his historic city had received.
"I need reinforcements. I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man," he said in a radio interview. "Now get off your asses and fix this. Let's do something and let's fix the biggest @@@@@@@ crisis in the history of this country."
Plumes of thick black smoke rose after a mighty explosion rocked an industrial area hit hard by Katrina, and an apartment complex in the center was also in flames.
Stunned residents stumbled around bodies that lay decomposing and untouched. Others trudged along flooded and debris-strewn streets toward the Superdome football stadium where they hoped to be bused to safety.
Most of the victims were poor and black, largely because they have no cars and so were unable to flee the city before Katrina pounded the U.S. Gulf Coast on Monday. The disaster has highlighted the racial and class divides in a city and a country where the gap between rich and poor is vast.
The scenes of destruction and mayhem resembled a major Third World refugee crisis, angering politicians and local residents who said the lack of aid was unacceptable in the world's richest country.
Civil right leader Jesse Jackson, speaking in Baton Rouge, said the government had been "grossly insensitive" to the needs of New Orleans' poor.
"We've sent our National Guard, our helicopters, our resources to secure Baghdad and manufacture a democracy, but leaving New Orleans vulnerable," he told reporters.
Louisiana's Department of Environmental Quality said a major oil spill has been spotted in the Mississippi River near the town of Venice, near the river's mouth.
"A flight to the Venice area revealed a major oil spill," the department said in a statement. "Two tanks, capable of holding 2 million barrels, appear to be leaking. Currently, there is no way to access the area."
(Additional reporting by Erwin Seba in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Paul Simao in Mobile, Alabama, Peter Cooney in Houston, Marc Serota in Pensacola, Florida, Steve Holland, Charles Aldinger and John Whitesides in Washington)
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Armed troops rolled into try and restore order to the chaos in New Orleans on Friday, bringing emergency supplies for the desperate survivors of Hurricane Katrina, in the first sign of significant relief after days of delays and broken promises.
The convoy of camouflage-green trucks wound its way through flooded streets, where marauding gangs roamed and corpses rotted in the sun a full four days after the hurricane battered the city.
President George W. Bush visited the stricken area and admitted government aid efforts had been unacceptable, but promised "we're going to make it right."
Sen. Mary Landrieu of Lousiana, traveling with Bush aboard Air Force One, said she told him: "Mr. President, time is of the essence. People are dying by the hour. There are not enough morgues. Please act."
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it may need up to 80 days to drain the floodwaters from the city after Katrina struck Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Monday with 140 mile per hour winds and a huge storm surge.
"We're looking at anywhere from 36 to 80 days to being done," said the Corps' Brig. Gen. Robert Crear.
New Orleans quickly descended into desperation and anarchy after the storm surge breached its protective system of levees, and floodwaters overwhelmed the city.
A trickle of government aid did nothing to stop the chaos that followed.
Scenes of rampant looting and reports that armed gangs had taken over the streets of New Orleans amid a near-complete collapse of order have shocked Americans.
The military convoy's arrival raised hopes that the government might finally be getting a grip on the crisis.
"We got food, water and medical attention. We are gonna get you people out of here," an officer announced through a bullhorn to thousands of hungry and frustrated people who have waited days at the New Orleans Convention Center for evacuation buses that never came.
Some cheered at the announcement, others shouted angrily, wondering what had taken so long.
"They are treating us like we are animals. When they had 9/11, they got them situated," said Terri Dorsey, 49. "Why don't they take care of us?"
"We are throw-away people," said Sherman Wright, 69.
A short distance away the corpse of a woman sat in a lawn chair, a towel draped over her head. She had been there since Thursday, people nearby said.
"It's not our fault. The storm came and flooded the city," said Army Lt. Gen. Russell Honore, a Louisiana native in charge of the military relief effort.
As people lined up to receive food and water from the troops, a soldier recently back from Iraq,
"There were always people in the streets always asking for water and food," said Chad Blocker, 21, of the Arkansas National Guard. "It is kind of the same here except here it is your own people."
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said the troops were going with shoot-to-kill orders. "These troops are battle-tested. They have M-16s and are locked and loaded."
But New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin questioned why they had not come sooner. "People are dying, people have lost their homes, people have lost their jobs. The city of New Orleans will never be the same," he said.
In Washington, the House of Representatives gave final passage to a $10.5 billion emergency-aid bill that Bush was expected to sign later in the day.
Bush walked down a storm-damaged street in downtown Biloxi, Mississippi, and comforted a sobbing woman who told him, "I don't have anything."
The woman, Bronwynne Bassier, 23, and her sister Kim, 21, managed to escape the storm but her house was in ruins. She clutched a black plastic bag she hoped to use to collect some items from what was left of her home.
"Sorry you're going through this," Bush said, hugging both women.
Thousands of people are feared dead in the storm and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said he was furious at the lack of help his historic city had received.
"I need reinforcements. I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man," he said in a radio interview. "Now get off your asses and fix this. Let's do something and let's fix the biggest @@@@@@@ crisis in the history of this country."
Plumes of thick black smoke rose after a mighty explosion rocked an industrial area hit hard by Katrina, and an apartment complex in the center was also in flames.
Stunned residents stumbled around bodies that lay decomposing and untouched. Others trudged along flooded and debris-strewn streets toward the Superdome football stadium where they hoped to be bused to safety.
Most of the victims were poor and black, largely because they have no cars and so were unable to flee the city before Katrina pounded the U.S. Gulf Coast on Monday. The disaster has highlighted the racial and class divides in a city and a country where the gap between rich and poor is vast.
The scenes of destruction and mayhem resembled a major Third World refugee crisis, angering politicians and local residents who said the lack of aid was unacceptable in the world's richest country.
Civil right leader Jesse Jackson, speaking in Baton Rouge, said the government had been "grossly insensitive" to the needs of New Orleans' poor.
"We've sent our National Guard, our helicopters, our resources to secure Baghdad and manufacture a democracy, but leaving New Orleans vulnerable," he told reporters.
Louisiana's Department of Environmental Quality said a major oil spill has been spotted in the Mississippi River near the town of Venice, near the river's mouth.
"A flight to the Venice area revealed a major oil spill," the department said in a statement. "Two tanks, capable of holding 2 million barrels, appear to be leaking. Currently, there is no way to access the area."
(Additional reporting by Erwin Seba in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Paul Simao in Mobile, Alabama, Peter Cooney in Houston, Marc Serota in Pensacola, Florida, Steve Holland, Charles Aldinger and John Whitesides in Washington)
