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 News from Around the Americas | September 2005 
Katrina's Effects At A Glance
 CNN.com
| | Houses damaged by Hurricane Katrina are surrounded by debris in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo: Richard Carson/Reuters) |
The following is a rundown of the situation in the states most affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Louisiana
Deaths: The mayor said the hurricane probably killed thousands of people in New Orleans - an estimate that, if accurate, would make the storm the nation's deadliest natural disaster since at least the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Relief crews put aside the counting of bodies to concentrate on rescuing the living, many trapped on rooftops and in attics.
An estimated 80 percent of New Orleans is under water, up to 20 feet deep in places. Water is still rising as engineers struggle to plug two breached levees along Lake Pontchartrain with giant sandbags.
Buses carrying evacuees from New Orleans began arriving at Houston's Astrodome overnight as Louisiana officials began clearing out the hurricane-ravaged Superdome.
Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said 3,000 people have been rescued by boat and air.
Sections of Interstate 10, the only major freeway leading into New Orleans from the east, are destroyed.
At least 713,000 customers estimated without power.
BellSouth Corp., the region's dominant local phone provider, estimated that about 750,000 lines may be out of service in the most heavily damaged areas.
Looting broke out in some New Orleans neighborhoods. Thieves took guns from a Wal-Mart. One police officer was shot in the head by a looter but was expected to recover. Looters also used a forklift to smash open a pharmacy. City officials themselves commandeered equipment from a looted Office Depot. During a state of emergency, authorities have broad powers to take private supplies and buildings for their use.
Quote: "You know, it's not like people are just there because they want to be there. They're there because they're trapped in the city." - Gov. Kathleen Blanco on ABC "Good Morning America"
Mississippi
Deaths: At least 110.
More than 236,000 customers are without power.
Hundreds of waterfront homes, businesses, community landmarks and condominiums have been obliterated.
Casinos built on barges along the coast are damaged or destroyed, some floated across beach onto land.
More than 1,600 Mississippi National Guardsmen have been activated.
Major bridges were damaged in three coastal counties, including those linking Biloxi with Ocean Springs and the connection to Bay St. Louis.
Looters picked through casino slot machines for coins and ransacked other businesses.
Quote: "It is indescribable - blocks and blocks and blocks of no houses. Ninety percent of the structures are gone. I saw Camille and the aftermath in 1969 and this is worst than Camille." Gov. Haley Barbour on NBC's "Today." Camille killed 143 and destroyed 6,000 homes.
Alabama
Deaths: Two.
About 325,000 homes and businesses are without power.
Flooding reached 11 feet in Mobile, matching a record set in 1917, according to the National Weather Service. Water got up to the roofs of cars in downtown Mobile and bayou communities. Piers were ransacked and grand homes flooded along Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay.
Major bridge over the Mobile River partially reopened; it was struck by oil drilling platform that floated away from a shipyard.
Florida
Deaths: 11.
About 80,700 customers without power. |
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