The Associated Press is reporting:
One week after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region, miles-long lines of vehicles crawled into Jefferson Parish on Monday as residents were allowed to return to salvage what was left of their homes. New Orleans’ mayor warned that 10,000 people may have died.[…] Some 400 to 500 police officers from New Orleans’ 1,600 member force were unaccounted for, Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said.
A week after the storm, a definitive death toll remained elusive. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin warned on NBC’s “Today” that “it wouldn’t be unreasonable to have 10,000” dead.
[…]
Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that fewer than 10,000 people remained in the city, based on aerial reconnaissance.
“This is not a city under siege,” he added on NBC. “This city needs help from the big people in America and its technology to get back on its feet. We are focused on the future. We have to finish the search-and-rescue and provide food and water from an area from Mobile (Ala.) to the east side of New Orleans, up to I-20 in Mississippi. This is a pig-big piece of terrain. There are people there that need help. We will do the best we can to get it to them.” […]
The Times-Picayune, Louisiana’s largest newspaper, published an open letter to Bush, called for the firing of every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“We’re angry, Mr. President, and we’ll be angry long after our beloved city and surrounding parishes have been pumped dry,” the editorial said. “Our people deserved rescuing. Many who could have been were not. That’s to the government’s shame.”
“Every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be fired, Director Michael Brown especially,” the letter said. “No expense should have been spared. No excuses should have been voiced.”
