Katrina Disaster Blog Sept. 4
This is a running list compiled by CBSNews.com staffers of the latest developments in the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
Sept. 4, 2005
5:10 p.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Police shot eight people carrying guns on a New Orleans bridge Sunday, killing five or six of them, a deputy chief said.
Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said the shootings took place on the Danziger Bridge, which connects Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River.
He said he had no other details.
4:38 p.m.
BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. (AP) — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended President Bush on Sunday against charges that the government's sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina showed racial insensitivity.
"Nobody, especially the president, would have left people unattended on the basis of race," the administration's highest-ranking black said as she toured damaged parts of her native Alabama.
1:00 p.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush says the world saw a "tidal wave of disaster" when Hurricane Katrina hit, and now, he says, it's about to see a "tidal wave of compassion."
The president spoke today during a visit to the Red Cross headquarters in Washington, appealing for donations of cash, blood and volunteer time in the storm's aftermath.
10:30 a.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) No one knows yet how many people were killed as Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans or how many more died waiting to be rescued.
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco says it will probably be in the thousands. And a top U-S Public Health Service official says one prison morgue alone is expecting as many as two-thousand bodies.
7:01 a.m.
MIAMI (AP) There's another hurricane. Maria has been upgraded this morning from a tropical storm to a hurricane.
The National Hurricane Center says its winds have grown to about 75 mph and it's expected to get even stronger over the next 24 hours.
Maria this morning was about 645 miles east-southeast of Bermuda. Forecasters expect it to remain well off Bermuda and for now it's only a threat to shipping.
6:49 a.m.
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP) Pope Benedict XI offered his prayers Sunday to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the bridge stampede in Iraq in which nearly 1,000 people were killed.
"These days we are all pained by the disaster caused by the hurricane in the United States of America," Benedict XVI said.
6:29 a.m.
(AP) Expressions of sympathy for U.S. hurricane victims are coming from all over the world, even from North Korea.
The communist nation's Red Cross has sent a message to the American Red Cross. As reported by the North's official news agency, it expresses hope that "the living of the inhabitants in the afflicted areas returns to normal as early as possible."
6:15 a.m.
JERUSALEM (AP) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday that Israel will send a medical team to the U.S. this week to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.
"The United States has stood beside us in difficult days and I think it is our duty to help it with whatever we are able to help," Sharon told his Cabinet.
12:25 a.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush, seeking to stem criticism that a slow federal response has contributed to needless misery, promised stunned and suffering residents up and down the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast that he would fix what's "not going exactly right" in the storm's aftermath.
Sept. 3, 2005
10:05 p.m.
Watch complete coverage of Hurricane Katrina from the CBS Evening News:
John Roberts on relief, resentment9:55 p.m.
HOUSTON (AP) The governor of Texas worries that his state may not be able to take many more evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. Governor Rick Perry says Texas is committed to doing everything it can to help, but wants to be sure it can provide the services needed, including medical care and education.
Perry says local officials "are beginning to notify us that they are quickly approaching capacity." Louisiana and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been alerted. Texas has taken in over 220,000 evacuees, with more on the way.
9:05 p.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) The last 300 refugees in the Louisiana Superdome have climbed aboard buses bound for new temporary shelter. They leave behind a darkened and stinking arena strewn with trash.
The sight of the last person -- an elderly man wearing a Houston Rockets cap -- prompted cheers from members of the Texas National Guard who were guarding the facility. Inside and outside the Superdome: A sea of trash up to five feet deep.
7:55 p.m.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has deployed all 28 of its National Urban Search and Rescue teams - 7 to Louisiana and 11 to Mississippi - to assist in rescue efforts in heavily impacted areas. The remaining 10 have been activated and deployed to staging areas in Dallas and Houston, Texas.
6:00 p.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) Several fires in New Orleans are adding to the devastation in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Fire broke out today in the Saks Fifth Avenue store in the Canal Place shopping center downtown, and firefighters had to bring in tanker trucks of water to keep it under control.
Officials say the blaze was contained after several hours. The cause isn't known.
5:00 p.m.
The Governor of Louisiana has established a foundation to focus on long-term recovery, to collect and distribute donations to private and public entities for disaster relief for losses and/or damages brought on as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
The special fund can be reached on the Internet at www.louisiana.gov
Send contributions to:
Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation
c/o Division of Administration
1201 North Third Street, Suite 7-240
P.O. Box 94095
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9095
4:40 p.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) Evacuees continue to board buses at the New Orleans Convention Center, with many people filing past corpses to make their escape. Conditions are crowded and many people have had to leave bags full of belongings at the side of the road because there's no room for them on the buses.
National Guardsmen are providing security at the center. They're confiscating knives and letter openers from people before they board. Meanwhile, helicopters are removing the sickest people -- many of whom are dehydrated and nearly passing out from exhaustion.
3:30 p.m.
TUPELO, Miss. (AP) Bestselling writer John Grisham and his wife will contribute $5 million to a relief fund they established this week at a Tupelo bank to help Mississippians rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.
"We don't normally publicize gifts. It's something we keep extremely private. But in these very, very rare circumstances -- this tragic time -- we hope the gift will get some attention and inspire other people to contribute money and help our fellow Mississippians on the Gulf Coast," said Grisham, who maintains a home in Oxford, Miss.
2:40 p.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) Another desperate situation is unfolding in New Orleans -- this time, at the city's international airport. At a medical triage center there, many are dying because of a lack of medical care.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist -- a surgeon who visited the airport today -- says, "The hallways are filled, the floors are filled." He says, "A lot more than eight to ten people are dying a day."
2:30 p.m.
(AP) Animal welfare groups are scrambling to rescue pets left behind by hurricane victims and evacuees. The International Fund for Animal Welfare says at least 300 dogs have been taken from New Orleans to Houston, where they're being cared for by the SPCA. And hundreds more may be arriving soon.
The group says many of the dogs were smuggled into shelters and evacuation buses by people fleeing New Orleans. It's working with the SPCA to set up temporary animal shelters.
11:30 a.m.
President Bush said another 7,000 active-duty military personnel are on their way to the Gulf Coast to join the 4,000 already there.
In his Saturday morning radio broadcast, Bush said the troops will restore and maintain law and order and assist in evacuation efforts.
9:00 a.m.
At least 2,000 hurricane victims remain stuck in the New Orleans Superdome. The evacuation of the displaced came to a halt early this morning when buses taking people away simply stopped coming.
(AP) Meanwhile, others are settling into the relative calm of the Astrodome, which has become a massive shelter. Busloads of evacuees are getting cleaned up and fed and given other necessities from water to disposable diapers.
6:45 a.m.
NEW YORK (AP) During "A Concert for Hurricane Relief" airing on NBC and other networks, rapper Kanye West blasted President Bush for the slow start to the recovery effort. West alleged, in his words, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
5:30 a.m.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) The U.S. Air Force said it is sending 300 airmen from Iraq and Afghanistan to deal with hurricane emergencies.
4:31 a.m.
MEXICO CITY (AP) Latin American nations are trying to locate citizens affected by Katrina, worried illegal immigrants may not seek help for fear of being deported.
Tens of thousands of Latin Americans, most from Mexico and Honduras, were living in the New Orleans area prior to the hurricane.
President Vicente Fox urged Mexicans to seek help from emergency officials during a televised address Friday in both Spanish and English.
3:25 a.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) National Guardsmen halted the evacuation of the Superdome early Saturday after buses transporting the refugees of Hurricane Katrina stopped rolling.
About 2,000 people remained in the stadium and could be there until Sunday, according to an estimate from the Texas Air National Guard.
2:06 a.m.
(AP) Two of New Orleans' most troubled hospitals were evacuated late Friday after desperate doctors spent days making tough choices about which patients got dwindling supplies of food, water and medicines.
Rescuers finally made it into Charity and University hospitals and evacuated all remaining patients and staff.
12:05 a.m.
(AP) Tulane University canceled its fall semester Friday because of Hurricane Katrina and encouraged its students to take classes through others schools while the New Orleans university tries to clean up from the flooding.
Read previous Katrina Disaster Blogs:
Sept. 3, Sept. 2, Sept. 1, Aug. 31