Hurricane Katrina

Post-Katrina New Orleans: A City in Crisis

By David Brody
Capitol Hill Correspondent

CBN.com – WASHINGTON - We may only now be starting to learn the true horror of Hurricane Katrina. The mayor of New Orleans says that the death toll in his city will probably go into the thousands.

President Bush says recovery from this disaster may take years. But he is promising a massive federal relief effort.

In the city they call The Big Easy, life is anything but. What started as utter destruction is turning into utter chaos.

"Hey you-drop it!" says a policeman to a looter. Officials say that looting is out of control. Armed gangs are roaming the streets with stolen guns, and hospitals are on lockdown so looters do not make their way in.

The mayor of New Orleans has told the 1,500 city police officers to leave search-and-rescue efforts behind and get the looting under control. At the same time, the city is dealing with major health concerns

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin commented earlier about the disease problems. "We have dead bodies in the water,” he said, “and at some point those dead bodies are going to create a serious disease issue, so we need all the help we can."

The only positive development so far is that for the time being at least, the flood waters are beginning to recede with the tide.

Johnny Bradburry of the Louisiana Department of Transportation remarked, "The good news here is that we've stabilized. Water is not rising in the city."

President Bush is now back in Washington, cutting his vacation short to deal with the crisis. Flying back to Washington, he got a firsthand look at the devastation. He says it will take years for the area to recover.

The administration has sent Navy ships to the Gulf to help in search-and-rescue and provide food and water. The President talked live to Good Morning America this morning.

Bush said, "I want people to know that there is help coming. I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did anticipate a serious storm, but these levees got breached and as a result, much of New Orleans is flooded - and now we're having to deal with it, and we will."

While the federal response churns along, Katrina's victims ponder what is next. Hundreds of refugees who took shelter in the Superdome in New Orleans have now arrived at the Houston Astrodome. They will be housed there for the next few months.

While the refugees got out of town, many are left behind.

In the small Gulf Coast town of Pass Christian, Mississippi, Fredna Bennett stayed behind with her dogs and her rabbit -- she didn't want to leave them behind. But she says, never again.

Bennett said, “I thought…we're not going to make it…It was devastating. I just can't imagine doing it again. Never. I'm so sorry."

And another Pass Christian resident has the unthinkable job of pulling dead bodies from the rubble.

"Kinda hard to count 'em. I know I pulled myself three that I know of - and there's just an untold number of 'em out there," Rob Florie commented.

He now says he will leave this area for good. "You drag somebody out of the rubble you grew up with,” Florie said, “that’s pretty tough."

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