BigBadBrian
09-08-2005, 03:00 PM
Teams removing 30 bodies found in nursing home
Thousands of people remain in New Orleans
Thursday, September 8, 2005; Posted: 12:28 p.m. EDT (16:28 GMT)
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- In a grim indicator of what may lie ahead, authorities were removing the remains of more than 30 people from a flooded nursing home in a suburban New Orleans parish.
The discovery at St. Rita's Nursing Home in lower St. Bernard Parish came as 25,000 body bags arrived at the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.
Early Thursday, the official death toll along from Hurricane Katrina stood at 294, but that number is expected to rise dramatically.
Mortuary teams with refrigerated trucks began arriving Wednesday at the nursing home, where St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stevens said "30-plus" bodies were found. Between 40 and 50 other people were rescued from the facility, Stevens said. (See video on the gruesome discovery -- 2:02)
The parish is east of New Orleans, where between 10,000 and 15,000 people are believed to remain in the flooded city, and thousands are feared dead.
Deputies reported that floodwaters had reached a height of eight feet in some parts of St. Bernard. The nursing home was still surrounded by about three feet of water on Wednesday, as authorities began removing bodies.
Throughout New Orleans and its surrounding parishes, National Guard troops were going house to house to search for survivors and recover the dead -- marking the houses they searched with an "X" to avoid duplication, said Brig. Gen. Michael Fleming, commander of a Florida unit dispatched to New Orleans. (See video of soldiers aiding recovery -- 3:16)
FEMA set up a temporary morgue in the town of St. Gabriel, about 70 miles west of New Orleans. (Watch video on St. Gabriel's "warehouse morgue" -- 2:56)
Another temporary morgue is set up at the intersection of Interstates 10 and 610 inside the city, FEMA spokesman Bill Lehman said.
Outside New Orleans, many residents have expressed concern and frustration at the slow pace of the relief effort and the lack of attention to their plight. (Full story)
Many Louisiana parishes were still largely under water on Wednesday, virtually inaccessible except by air. St. Bernard Parish President Henry Rodriguez said most of the structures there will have to be rebuilt.
Rodriguez said state and federal aid was slow in coming, and that his parish made it through the early days with the help of sheriffs from other states, a contingent of 50 Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other first responders.
Dan Hitchings, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, said Wednesday that water was being drained from St. Bernard Parish, where engineers intentionally breached levees earlier this week to help the effort.
Dikes were also breached in a few places in Plaquemines Parish, which was heavily flooded. No pumps are operational in that parish, according to Hitchings. (See video on the largely submerged parish -- 2:35)
Pumping stations were operating in the towns of Meraux and Violet, but the water was still high. (Full story)
Jefferson Parish residents were still surveying the damage from the storm and trying to salvage what belongings they could find.
Many residents were already making plans to rebuild. (Full story)
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour told NBC's Today show on Thursday that power will be restored by Saturday.
Authorities have confirmed 196 deaths in the state.
Not safe to stay
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has ordered a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, warning that it's not safe to stay in the city.
The floodwaters are contaminated with sewage, chemicals and decaying corpses. Nagin said those who remained faced the risk of water- and mosquito-borne disease and blazes caused by natural gas leaks.
Police Superintendent Eddie Compass said police would not start the forced evacuations until everyone who wants to leave is out.
"We're going to be respectful, talk to people, get counselors in to talk to people," he said. "A lot of people have been traumatized. We're going to do this with sensitivity. They have to understand, this water is polluted, it's dangerous, they could die."
The U.S. Coast Guard will help with those evacuations if needed, Vice Adm. Thad Allen told CNN on Thursday.
Active duty U.S. troops will not participate in forcible evacuations, said Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, commander of the military relief effort.
After last week's rampant looting, some holdouts fear authorities "cannot protect their property," City Council President Oliver Thomas told CNN.
Others were concerned about conditions in shelters or worried about their pets.
A blind and elderly woman who identified herself as Ms. Connie rejected authorities' efforts to coax her from her rundown rental home until they agreed to take her dog.
"My dog goes where I go," she said.
In the French Quarter, Deidre White said she felt "pretty safe" working at Johnny White's, a bar that even Hurricane Katrina did not shut down.
"We're here to help people out and feed them," she said. "I'm going to try and hold my ground and stay in my home as long as I can, because I love living here."
Other developments
Vice President Dick Cheney, his wife, Lynne, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales arrived Thursday in Mississippi to meet with local and state officials to view the damage. They were scheduled to visit New Orleans later in the day.
A bipartisan, joint congressional committee will review the response at all levels of government to Katrina and report its findings to Congress no later than February 15, the leaders of the House and Senate said Wednesday. (Full story)
The U.S. Postal Service has delivered 15,000 Social Security checks to people otherwise unable to receive mail in regions devastated by Hurricane Katrina. (Full story)
Public schools in St. Bernard Parish will be closed at least until January, St Bernard Parish President Rodriguez said, and the Rev. Torin Sanders, president of the Orleans Parish school board, said he hoped to open two schools not badly affected by January. (Full story)
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
Link (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/08/katrina.impact/index.html)
Thousands of people remain in New Orleans
Thursday, September 8, 2005; Posted: 12:28 p.m. EDT (16:28 GMT)
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- In a grim indicator of what may lie ahead, authorities were removing the remains of more than 30 people from a flooded nursing home in a suburban New Orleans parish.
The discovery at St. Rita's Nursing Home in lower St. Bernard Parish came as 25,000 body bags arrived at the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.
Early Thursday, the official death toll along from Hurricane Katrina stood at 294, but that number is expected to rise dramatically.
Mortuary teams with refrigerated trucks began arriving Wednesday at the nursing home, where St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stevens said "30-plus" bodies were found. Between 40 and 50 other people were rescued from the facility, Stevens said. (See video on the gruesome discovery -- 2:02)
The parish is east of New Orleans, where between 10,000 and 15,000 people are believed to remain in the flooded city, and thousands are feared dead.
Deputies reported that floodwaters had reached a height of eight feet in some parts of St. Bernard. The nursing home was still surrounded by about three feet of water on Wednesday, as authorities began removing bodies.
Throughout New Orleans and its surrounding parishes, National Guard troops were going house to house to search for survivors and recover the dead -- marking the houses they searched with an "X" to avoid duplication, said Brig. Gen. Michael Fleming, commander of a Florida unit dispatched to New Orleans. (See video of soldiers aiding recovery -- 3:16)
FEMA set up a temporary morgue in the town of St. Gabriel, about 70 miles west of New Orleans. (Watch video on St. Gabriel's "warehouse morgue" -- 2:56)
Another temporary morgue is set up at the intersection of Interstates 10 and 610 inside the city, FEMA spokesman Bill Lehman said.
Outside New Orleans, many residents have expressed concern and frustration at the slow pace of the relief effort and the lack of attention to their plight. (Full story)
Many Louisiana parishes were still largely under water on Wednesday, virtually inaccessible except by air. St. Bernard Parish President Henry Rodriguez said most of the structures there will have to be rebuilt.
Rodriguez said state and federal aid was slow in coming, and that his parish made it through the early days with the help of sheriffs from other states, a contingent of 50 Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other first responders.
Dan Hitchings, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, said Wednesday that water was being drained from St. Bernard Parish, where engineers intentionally breached levees earlier this week to help the effort.
Dikes were also breached in a few places in Plaquemines Parish, which was heavily flooded. No pumps are operational in that parish, according to Hitchings. (See video on the largely submerged parish -- 2:35)
Pumping stations were operating in the towns of Meraux and Violet, but the water was still high. (Full story)
Jefferson Parish residents were still surveying the damage from the storm and trying to salvage what belongings they could find.
Many residents were already making plans to rebuild. (Full story)
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour told NBC's Today show on Thursday that power will be restored by Saturday.
Authorities have confirmed 196 deaths in the state.
Not safe to stay
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has ordered a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, warning that it's not safe to stay in the city.
The floodwaters are contaminated with sewage, chemicals and decaying corpses. Nagin said those who remained faced the risk of water- and mosquito-borne disease and blazes caused by natural gas leaks.
Police Superintendent Eddie Compass said police would not start the forced evacuations until everyone who wants to leave is out.
"We're going to be respectful, talk to people, get counselors in to talk to people," he said. "A lot of people have been traumatized. We're going to do this with sensitivity. They have to understand, this water is polluted, it's dangerous, they could die."
The U.S. Coast Guard will help with those evacuations if needed, Vice Adm. Thad Allen told CNN on Thursday.
Active duty U.S. troops will not participate in forcible evacuations, said Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, commander of the military relief effort.
After last week's rampant looting, some holdouts fear authorities "cannot protect their property," City Council President Oliver Thomas told CNN.
Others were concerned about conditions in shelters or worried about their pets.
A blind and elderly woman who identified herself as Ms. Connie rejected authorities' efforts to coax her from her rundown rental home until they agreed to take her dog.
"My dog goes where I go," she said.
In the French Quarter, Deidre White said she felt "pretty safe" working at Johnny White's, a bar that even Hurricane Katrina did not shut down.
"We're here to help people out and feed them," she said. "I'm going to try and hold my ground and stay in my home as long as I can, because I love living here."
Other developments
Vice President Dick Cheney, his wife, Lynne, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales arrived Thursday in Mississippi to meet with local and state officials to view the damage. They were scheduled to visit New Orleans later in the day.
A bipartisan, joint congressional committee will review the response at all levels of government to Katrina and report its findings to Congress no later than February 15, the leaders of the House and Senate said Wednesday. (Full story)
The U.S. Postal Service has delivered 15,000 Social Security checks to people otherwise unable to receive mail in regions devastated by Hurricane Katrina. (Full story)
Public schools in St. Bernard Parish will be closed at least until January, St Bernard Parish President Rodriguez said, and the Rev. Torin Sanders, president of the Orleans Parish school board, said he hoped to open two schools not badly affected by January. (Full story)
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
Link (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/08/katrina.impact/index.html)