Governor: Everyone must leave New Orleans (AP) Updated: 2005-08-31 20:49
The governor of Louisiana says everyone needs to leave New Orleans due to
flooding from Hurricane Katrina. "We've sent buses in. We will be either loading
them by boat, helicopter, anything that is necessary," Gov. Kathleen Blanco
said. Army engineers struggled without success to plug New Orleans' breached
levees with sandbags, and Blanco said Wednesday the situation was worsening,
leaving no choice but to evacuate.
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Cargo containers lay where they were tossed by Hurricane Katrina in
New Orleans August 31, 2005. [Reuters] | "The challenge is an engineering nightmare," Blanco said on ABC's "Good
Morning America." "The National Guard has been dropping sandbags into it, but
it's like dropping it into a black hole."
As the waters continued to rise in New Orleans, four Navy ships raced toward
the Gulf Coast with drinking water and other emergency supplies, and Red Cross
workers from across the country converged on the devastated region. The Red
Cross reported it had about 40,000 people in 200 shelters across the area.
Officials said the death toll from Hurricane Katrina had reached at least 110
in Mississippi, while Louisiana put aside the counting of the dead to
concentrate on rescuing the living, many of whom were still trapped on rooftops
and in attics.
Blanco acknowledged that looting was a severe problem but said that officials
had to focus on survivors. "We don't like looters one bit, but first and
foremost is search and rescue," she said.
To repair one of the levees holding back Lake Pontchartrain, officials late
Tuesday dropped 3,000-pound sandbags from helicopters and hauled dozens of
15-foot concrete barriers into the breach. Maj. Gen. Don Riley of the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers said officials also had a more audacious plan: finding a
barge to plug the 500-foot hole.
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| | Death toll of Baghdad bridge stampede nears 1,000 | | | | | Barretos Rodeo International Festival | | | | | Katrina hits US Gulf Coast | | |
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