Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour said on Wednesday that 90% of buildings in the worst-hit area of the Gulf Coast in his state are ”totally just gone” after Hurricane Katrina, as the mayor of New Orleans said it will be three to four months before residents can return to the city, which is nearly 80% submerged.
In Mississippi, ”between the beach and the railroad … every house is just gone”, Barbour told NBC television. ”Ninety percent of the structures are totally just gone. Debris [is] knee deep, waist deep, hip deep.
”It is indescribable. You’ll see blocks and blocks and blocks where there are just no houses left. I mean, nothing.”
On Tuesday, Barbour had likened the devastation of homes and other buildings in the Gulf Coast region to that of Hiroshima.
”They’re simply not there. I can only imagine that this is what Hiroshima looked like 60 years ago,” he said.
On Wednesday, he noted that he had witnessed powerful Hurricane Camille and its aftermath in 1969, but he said this storm was worse.
”There are places that weren’t touched by Camille where there’s total devastation today. You can go 25, 30 miles [40km or 50km] along the Gulf Coast and it’s just absolutely obliterated.”
In terms of recovering from the storm, Barbour told NBC: ”We’ve turned the first corner,” as search-and-rescue teams and emergency supplies have managed to make their way into the devastated areas through mountains of rubble, ”but there are a lot of corners left to go”.
Hurricane Katrina is expected to trigger the biggest humanitarian assistance operation the American Red Cross has ever organised in the United States.
Vincent Creel, a city spokesperson in Biloxi, Mississippi, estimated that hundreds of people may have been killed along the Mississippi coastline from Pascagoula to Gulfport, including Biloxi.
Authorities have refused to provide even a provisional death toll from the hurricane on Monday.
Warning for New Orleans residents
New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin on Wednesday said it will be three to four months before residents can return to New Orleans, which is nearly 80% submerged after a major levee broke and waters inundated the city in the wake of the hurricane.
”We are looking at 12 to 16 weeks before people can come in,” Nagin told ABC television, adding that he is also greatly concerned about the ”dead bodies in the water”.
”At some point in time, the dead bodies are going to start to create a serious disease issue,” he said.
Lake Pontchartrain is spilling slowly into the low-lying city of New Orleans after an effort to plug a breach in a levee failed on Tuesday and pumps gave out.
Nagin noted that the waters flooding into the low-lying city ”will rise to try and equal the water level of the lake, which is three feet [almost 1m] above sea level”.
”That’s significant, because on St Charles Avenue, one of our most famous avenues, it is six feet [1,8m] below sea level in elevation. There will be nine feet [2,7m] in that area, and probably 20 feet [6m] in other areas of the city,” Nagin said.
”There were thousands of people that were trapped on roofs and attics. We have saved so many lives,” he said. ”Now we have this other challenge with the rising water.”
About 12 000 to 15 000 people are still huddled in the city’s Superdome sports stadium, which officials had designated a shelter of last resort.
Meanwhile, looting broke out in some areas and gas leaks fuelled fires.
About 3 500 army national guardsmen in Louisiana are to help with security, shelter, removing debris and distributing water and food.
Pope sends message
Pope Benedict XVI sent a telegram on Wednesday expressing condolences to the families of the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the southern United States, the Vatican announced.
”Deeply saddened by the tragic consequences of the recent hurricane in the United States of America, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI assures all those affected of his closeness in prayer,” said the telegram, sent in his name by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano ”to civilian and religious authorities”.
”The Holy Father commends the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God and upon their grieving families he invokes divine blessings of strength and consolation.
”His holiness likewise prays for the rescue workers and all involved in providing assistance to the victims of this disaster, encouraging them to persevere in their efforts to bring relief and support,” the message read. — AFP
