Body count rises along Gulf Coast
GULFPORT, Miss. – Rescuers in boats and helicopters searched for survivors of Hurricane Katrina and brought victims, wet and bedraggled, to shelters today as the extent of the damage across the Gulf Coast became ever clearer. The governor said the death toll in one Mississippi county alone could be as high as 80.
"The devastation down there is just enormous," Gov. Haley Barbour said on NBC's Today show, the morning after Katrina howled ashore with winds of 145 mph and engulfed thousands of homes in one of the most punishing storms on record in the United States.
Barbour said there were unconfirmed reports of up to 80 deaths in Harrison County—which includes devastated Gulfport and Biloxi—and the number was likely to rise. At least five other deaths across the Gulf Coast were blamed on Katrina.
"We know that there is a lot of the coast that we have not been able to get to," the governor said. "I hate to say it, but it looks like it is a very bad disaster in terms of human life."
Tree trunks, downed power lines and trees, and chunks of broken concrete in the streets prevented rescuers from reaching victims. Swirling water in many areas contained hidden dangers. Crews worked to clear highways. Along one Mississippi highway, motorists themselves used chain saws to remove trees blocking the road.
Officials said it could be a week or more before many of the evacuees are allowed back. They warned people against trying to return to their homes while the rescue and recovery are still going on.
"What we're doing is trying to make the best of a bad situation, and we need people to cooperate," New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass said.
More than 1,600 Mississippi national guardsmen were activated to help with the recovery, and the Alabama Guard planned to send two battalions to Mississippi.
In New Orleans, residents who had ridden out the brunt of Katrina faced another threat: rising water. Failed pumps and levees sent water from Lake Pontchartrain coursing through the streets today in the Big Easy, which sits mostly below sea level.
Authorities said rising water forced one New Orleans hospital to move patients to the Louisiana Superdome, where some 10,000 people have taken shelter since late Sunday.
In downtown New Orleans, streets that were relatively clear in the hours after the storm were filled with 1 to 11/2 feet of water. Water was knee-deep around the Superdome. Canal Street was literally a canal. Water lapped at the edge of the French Quarter.
Little islands of red ants floated in the gasoline-fouled waters through downtown. The Hyatt Hotel and other high-rises around the Superdome had rows and rows of shattered windows.
"We know that last night we had over 300 folks that we could confirm were on tops of roofs and waiting for our assistance. We pushed hard all throughout the night. We hoisted over 100 folks last night just in the Mississippi area. Our crews over New Orleans probably did twice that," Capt. Dave Callahan of the Coast Guard Aviation Training Center in Mississippi said on ABC.
advertisement
