Flights resuming into New Orleans today
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-13 21:34

Officials got ready for the arrival Tuesday of the first commercial flight at New Orleans' airport since Hurricane Katrina hit, and the coroner said autopsies were planned for the bodies of at least 44 people found at a hospital.

The exact number of bodies recovered Sunday from the 317-bed Memorial Medical Center was unclear. A state official said the bodies of 45 patients were found; a hospital administrator said there were 44, plus three on the grounds.

The discovery of the corpses raised Louisiana's official death toll to nearly 280.

Steven Campanini, a spokesman for hospital owner Tenet Healthcare Corp., said some of the patients died before Katrina arrived, and none of the deaths resulted from lack of food, water or electricity to power medical equipment.

Dave Goodson, an assistant administrator at Memorial Medical Center, said patients died while waiting to be evacuated after Katrina struck, as temperatures inside the hospital reached 106 degrees.

Family members and nurses were "literally standing over the patients, fanning them," he said. "These patients were not abandoned."

Dr. Frank Minyard, the Orleans Parish coroner, said autopsies will be performed on the bodies.

During an appearance Tuesday on NBC's "Today," he said he thought the evacuation of the city was successful, considering that the death toll so far was much lower than expected. However, he noted that searches continued.

"There just may be a lot of people who are still down in those deep waters, and some of waters were 10-, 12-, 15-feet deep," Minyard said. "My biggest fear is that we will find something down there that is way out of proportion. Hopefully, it doesn't happen, but we worry."

Also Tuesday, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was scheduled to receive its first commercial flight since Katrina struck on Aug. 29.

"We'll see how this week goes and we'll take it from there," said airport spokeswoman Michelle Duffarc.

Officials announced the discovery of the bodies at the hospital on Monday as President Bush got his first up-close look at the destruction in New Orleans.

"My impression of New Orleans is this: that there is a recovery on the way," Bush said after riding through New Orleans in a truck with the governor and mayor.

Also Monday, Mike Brown, the embattled director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, stepped down. Brown was quickly replaced by R. David Paulison, a top agency official with firefighting experience.

The recovery was visible in spots Monday. Nearly two-thirds of southeastern Louisiana's water treatment plants were up and running, and 41 of New Orleans' 174 permanent pumps were operational. Officials expect the still half-flooded city to be completely drained by Oct. 8.

Business owners were let back into New Orleans on Monday to assess the damage and retrieve vital records and equipment.

John Baus, a lawyer and construction manager, filled his SUV with computer servers, monitors, fax machines and crates of files. He said he planned to make the best of the disaster, starting a new company to help residents handle disaster claims and rebuilding projects.

"Everybody's been scattered to the four winds," said Baus, who evacuated to Baton Rouge. "How are they going to take care of insurance claims? Meet contractors? Get their houses restored the way they were?"

Some homes will require rebuilding. St. Bernard Parish President Henry Rodriguez told displaced residents there isn't a structure left standing in Hopedale, southeast of New Orleans. Parish Councilman Craig Taffaro said no one should expect to live in the parish again before next summer; before Katrina, its population was 66,000.

Sgt. John Zeller, a California National Guard engineer, said it will be at least three months before the New Orleans' public water system is fully operational. Some homes have running water now, but it's mostly untreated Mississippi River water — for anyone wanting a bath, "It's like jumping in the river right now," he said.

Some of those displaced may end up in temporary housing provided by FEMA, which expects to use trailer homes to create "temporary cities," where some 200,000 hurricane victims — most of them in Louisiana — could live for up to five years.

"This may not be quite on the scale of building the pyramids, but it's close," said Brad Fair, head of the FEMA's housing effort.

In other developments:

Insurance experts doubled to at least $40 billion their estimate of insured losses caused by Katrina. Risk Management Solutions Inc. of Newark, Calif., put the total economic damage at more than $125 billion.

Lawmakers in Washington proposed some tax changes Monday to help storm victims, such as letting them tap retirement accounts without penalty and encouraging donations of cash, food and school books. Former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial called for a compensation fund for the hurricane victims similar to the fund created for victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.