11:59 PM CDT on Friday, September 2, 2005

Tom Planchet

5:57 P.M. - (AP): Hundreds of thousands of people with no homes, no food, no jobs, no money -- the reality is staggering. A mass exodus of refugees from Hurricane Katrina has left communities across the nation scrambling to find ways to care for the newly dispossessed.

The hurricane that drowned New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast will pose an unprecedented test for communities, churches and schools that will have to find the space and the dollars to cope with throngs often arriving on their doorsteps with little but the clothes on their backs.

Thousands of storm survivors have already found temporary homes: More than 15,000 people bused from Louisiana have packed in the Houston Astrodome. The city's convention center and an exhibition hall are expected to house more.

More than 94,000 other hurricane refugees are living in 284 Red Cross shelters in nine states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri and Florida.

College dormitories, churches, schools and community centers have all been converted into shelters. Other hurricane refugees are holed up in hotels or bunking with families or friends.

5:53 P.M. - (AP): Days after Hurricane Katrina struck, nobody can say how many people it killed. And in a situation marked by chaos and flooding, that won't change anytime soon, disaster experts say.

In Mississippi, for example, the confirmed death toll has reached 131, but Gov. Haley Barbour said Thursday, "We don't know how many fatalities there are. The official count is really meaningless."

5:01 P.M. - OPELOUSAS (AP) - One Hurricane Katrina refugee died and many others were injured when a bus carrying them west from the Superdome in New Orleans overturned and rolled across a highway median. At least 10 people were taken to hospitals, several critically injured, The Daily World of Opelousas reported on its Web site.

3:54 P.M. - FEMA Spokesperson: The first estimate we got was that about 10,000 at the Superdome had to be rescued and it's been in the tens of thousands.

3:54 P.M. - FEMA Spokesperson: I'm probably going to lie awake at night for a long time second guessing how we responded.

3:52 P.M. - FEMA spokesperson: The magnitude of this overwhelmed us.

3:34 P.M. - (AP) The evacuation of Superdome refugees was interrupted briefly when school buses rolled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt hotel. They were move to the head of the line to be evacuated -- much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the stinking Superdome for days.

The 700 had been trapped in the Hyatt just like the others, but conditions were considerably cleaner, even without running water, than the unsanitary crush inside the dome.

3:14 P.M. - St. Bernard Parish officials say that FEMA has not called them yet...five days after the storm.

3:07 P.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- U.S. Sen. David Vitter said FEMA's efforts to deal with the hurricane have been completely ineffective, and he called the federal government's response a failure.

"I think FEMA has been completely dysfunctional and is completely overwhelmed, and I don't know why. This situation was utterly predictable," said Vitter, R-Metairie. "It seems like there was no coherent plan, which I don't understand because this precise scenario has been predicted for 20 years," he said.

3:03 P.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Three New Orleans-area hospitals remain open. The Louisiana Hospital Association says they're asking their workers to report.

Those are East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero and Ochsner Clinic Foundation in Metairie.

The hospital association says all three have power, air-conditioning and security, and remain committed to serving their communities during these difficult times.

2:54 P.M. - WWL Reporter Jonathan Betz says the refugees at I-10 and Causeway are standing in squalid conditions. He said there are only 10 portable toilets for thousands of people and the Interstate median is full of human waste.

2:50 P.M. - WWL-TV LIVE pictures show thousands still wait to be picked up from I-10 and Causeway. Buses arrived a few hours ago, but the refugees say that it's the first sighting of buses in 12 hours. Some of the refugees have been waiting four days. State Police say five people died Thursday while waiting.

2:37 P.M. - LITTLE ROCK, AR (AP): A pediatric specialist left New Orleans this week confident of one thing -- dedicated doctors and nurses at Louisiana hospitals excelled at preserving lives while their known world crumbled around them.

Doctor Tad Fiser of Arkansas Children's Hospital says the lack of electricity and other hardships did not stop doctors in New Orleans from doing their work. Fiser says he cannot offer enough praise for the care given by doctors from the Children's Hospital of New Orleans, Tulane Medical Center and Touro Infirmary.

Fiser says at one point he rode on a helicopter with a doctor from Charity Hospital who had been working since Sunday and had only one peanut butter sandwich to eat.

Fiser traveled to Louisiana on Wednesday to help evacuate children from New Orleans area hospitals to a medical unit set up at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport. The children were being treated for grave ailments before the storm hit.

After arriving at Baton Rouge, many of the children were sent to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. Arkansas Children's Hospital has taken in four patients.

2:32 P.M. - ALBANY, NY (AP): While people around the country are donating money to buy food, clothing and other essential supplies for Hurricane Katrina victims, New York lawyers are creating a fund to help restore legal services in devastated areas and provide free direct help.

The New York State Bar Association fund will help victims in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama pay for such services as filing insurance claims, getting death certificates completed and applying for federal aid.

Association President A. Vincent Buzard says he has contacted association presidents in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to offer financial support and volunteer attorneys. When the time comes, he says many New York lawyers will head south to help.

Since most New York attorneys lack licenses to practice in those states, any legal aid they could give would have to be through lawyers belonging to the bar associations there.

Buzard is also urging his 71,000 members to donate to groups like the American Red Cross to meet the immediate needs of those affected.

2:28 P.M. - WWL-TV: Wildlife and Fisheries has said they are no longer asking people to volunteer their time and boats to go on rescue missions because of security concerns.

2:25 P.M. - (AP): The nation's airlines have been putting aside their own financial troubles to fly in supplies and take out refugees from hurricane devastated areas. Relief flights donated by airlines poured into Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport today.

Here are other efforts:

--Some pilots have set up a shuttle service out of Baton Rouge to evacuate high-risk people to Texas. Others are flying damage-assessment missions over the damaged region and taking in critical supplies.

--AirTran Airways today flew two humanitarian aid flights from Atlanta to the Gulfport, Mississippi airport. AirTran dropped more than 20 tons of water, food, clothing, medical supplies and other items.

--United Airlines this week flew 12 tons of food and water from Chicago to New Orleans. On the flight were 30 emergency medical technicians from Chicago who stayed behind in New Orleans. The same jet returned with 104 evacuees from New Orleans.

-- Fort Worth-based American Airlines is offering 500 miles to frequent-flier members who give the Red Cross at least $50 and then show a receipt to the airline.

--Houston-based Continental Airlines is giving 1,000 tickets for hurricane victims to relocate within the United States. The tickets are being doled out by emergency agencies.

2:22 P.M. - HOUSTON (AP): Passengers getting off buses from New Orleans may be in sight of the end of their nearly week-long ordeal. But first, they have to go through screening.

Police in Houston are guiding people through lines where they can undergo pat-down searches.

Paramedics wearing rubber gloves are helping medical teams conduct a triage operation. Kidney patients and others who might need immediate medical attention are being transported to hospitals.

The evacuees are also being offered icy bottles of water as they get off the buses. Disposable diapers are being passed out to those with small children.

Many of the people are asking total strangers for a few seconds of cellphone time to try to locate loved ones.

2:15 P.M. - WWL-TV: New Orleans music legend Fats Domino is safe after spending the last two days here in the apartment of LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell.

Domino was rescued for his home in the lower 9th Ward of New Orleans two days ago and brought to the triage unit at the Maravich Assembly Center on the LSU campus. Click here.

2:05 P.M. - (AP): A mix of cheering and swearing has greeted National Guardsman pouring into New Orleans.

As a convoy of relief trucks swarmed through downtown, some near the city's convention center threw up their hands and screamed "Thank You, Jesus!"

Others weren't as pleased. One man says "hell no," he's not happy to see the Guard, saying troops should have shown up days ago. Michael Levy says he'll be pleased when 100 buses arrive to evacuate people.

Levy says people at the center have been sleeping on the ground "like rats." And he says if he had his way, New Orleans would be burned down.

1:57 P.M. - WWL-TV: State School Superintendent Cecil Picard is asking the School Superintendents of St. Bernard and Plaquesmines Parishes to call him as soon as possible.

1:52 P.M. - First Lady Laura Bush: This is the most devastating natural disaster in our history.

1:49 P.M. - PENSACOLA, FL (AP): There are thousands of individual stories of woe and misery in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but one involve a family of nine that is taking refuge in a Pensacola, Florida shelter. They lost everything to the hurricane.

26-year-old Paul Reed says he fled New Orleans where he worked as a hotel manager on touristy Bourbon Street. Two of his children are school-age and one is an infant. Reed lost his home to roof-high water. He hopes to get a job with his brother-in-law who manages a Chicago hotel.

Everything the family has left is their rented car, and Reed plans to point it North soon as he can.

As he puts it: "I have to find it in my heart to find a new home. Whenever we get the financial means, we'll leave."

1:44 P.M. - First Lady Laura Bush, in Lafayette, on the rebuilding process: "It's going to take a lot of money and it's going to take a lot of hard work." The First Lady urged people to continue making donations to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

1:35 P.M. - Xavier University spokesperson: 400 students still trapped at the university. One person is already dead.

1:25 P.M. - Pres. Bush, after touring the damage in Biloxi, MS: "I don't think anybody can be prepared for the vastness of this destruction." The President said he "completely disagreed" with those who said the war in Iraq was diverting vital, much needed resources away from the storm-ravaged area.

"We'll do both (help the Gulf Coast and those in Iraq), we've got plenty of resources to do both," Bush said.

1:20 P.M. - Marriott spokesman: There are still guests at the hotel, and that the Marriot is trying to get a bus from the St. Louis area down to New Orleans to get to the guests. There has been much looting at the hotel.

1:17 P.M. - (AP): A large fire erupted today in an old retail building in a dry section of Canal Street.

There's no immediate reports of injuries.

Earlier today, an explosion at a chemical depot rocked an area of New Orleans east of the French Quarter.

1:13 P.M. - CHICAGO (AP): Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says the victims of Hurricane Katrina are "our brothers and sisters" and its up to residents of Chicago and the rest of the nation to help them.

Daley today announced that the city is setting up the Chicago Helps Fund, which is similar to a fund the city set up to help victims of the September eleventh terrorist attacks.

The mayor says checks can be dropped off at any J.P. Morgan Chase bank branch, and the city is setting up a call-in line to take donations.

Daley says he's urging residents to give as much money as they can, and he says he also hopes churches will ask their congregations for donations at services this weekend.

The mayor also says the city's Office of Emergency Management has offered its services and is ready to send personnel and equipment to help with relief efforts.

12:58 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., urged President Bush to appoint former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani or two former military officials to run the ground response in the Gulf Coast, saying local authorities are not up to the task. Sweeney suggested Giuliani or retired generals Colin Powell and Tommy Franks could take charge of the much-criticized hurricane relief efforts. Click here.

12:50 P.M. - SAN ANTONIO (AP): The first of 25,000 Hurricane Katrina refugees ticketed for San Antonio arrived today at the old Kelly Air Force Base aboard nine buses from Louisiana.

A staging area's been set up at what's now called KellyUSA in southwestern San Antonio. There, the refugees will be checked in and given living arrangements.

They'll be staying in a 325,000-square-foot warehouse that was part of the old air base. Medical and mental-health care will be available -- as will showers and meals.

It's not clear how many refugees are expected to arrive this first day.

12:49 P.M. - BILOXI, MS (AP): President Bush has been trying to console people who lost their homes, and everything else but their lives, to Hurricane Katrina.

Visiting Biloxi, Mississippi, Bush spoke with a tearful woman who told him, "We don't have anything." They stood alongside the ruins of homes that had been reduced to pieces amid fallen trees and other debris.

He walked through the debris with the woman and a girl, his arms around their shoulders, and told them to "hang in there."

Bush flew today to Mobile, Alabama for an update on the relief efforts, and left from there to tour other areas of the Gulf coast that were ravaged by the storm.

Before leaving the White House, he said the efforts to provide food and water to survivors, and to stop the lawlessness in New Orleans, had not been good enough. He said, "The results are not acceptable."

12:45 P.M. - (AP): Evacuations resumed today at some of New Orleans' most troubled hospitals where desperate doctors were being forced to make tough choices about which patients got dwindling supplies of food, water and medicines.

Rescuers finally made it into Charity Hospital, the largest public hospital and trauma center in the city, where gunshots prevented efforts yesterday to evacuate more than 220 patients.

Richard Zuschlag, president of Acadian Ambulance Service president, says the military is handling the evacuation of Charity and other nearby hospitals.

Relatives of Doctor L. Lee Hamm, chairman of medicine at Tulane University, also reported that they received a text message from him around midday today. He confirmed that evacuations were taking place at Charity and nearby University Hospital, where more than one-thousand patients, family members, staff and people from the community had huddled.

12:30 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): The U.S. and other nations are going to release more oil from their reserves, to relieve the energy crunch from Hurricane Katrina.

The Bush administration says it's going to release 30 million barrels of oil from the nation's strategic stockpile. Another 60 million barrels will come from overseas.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman says it's part of an "aggressive" federal response to the hurricane.

The fuel from abroad will be released by the International Energy Agency, based in Paris. It will be in the form of both crude oil and gasoline, and it will be released over the coming month.

12:29 P.M. - Cathy Flinchum, State Police spokesperson: Police patrols in New Orleans still ongoing, with more police coming in everyday. Reports are coming in that the violence and crime is beginning to lessen. Communication is not as good as it should be for law enforcement officers.

12:20 P.M. - WWL-TV: Rev. Jackson very critical of the federal government's efforts and the Bush Administration's response to the disaster thus far.

12:16 P.M. - (AP): State officials said Friday they have spotted a huge oil spill near two storage tanks at the town of Venice, on the Mississippi River downstream from New Orleans.

A flyover by the Department of Environmental Quality revealed what was described as a major oil spill.

"Two tanks with the capacity of holding 2 million barrels appear to be leaking," the statement said.

No further details were given.

12:11 P.M. - Rev. Jesse Jackson: 300,000 yet to be rescued in the city. Grambling and Southern University are being used as places of refuge for some evacuated college students.

The Reverend said he went into the city last night on a bus, and was surrounded by evacuees begging for a ride out of town. Jackson said the people tried to form a human chain around the bus in order to stop it so they could board it.

Jackson said 120,000 people in New Orleans make less than $8,000 a year, and are without private transportation. Thus, they had no capacity to leave the city, and no place to go even if they could leave.

Jackson said the lack of an overall plan--and leadership--has lead to further disaster in the city.

12:09 P.M. - (AP): The stench from backed-up toilets inside the Superdome is unbearable and people are afraid to go into the unlighted bathrooms.

Sandra Jones says she and her family use a box to relieve themselves instead of using restrooms because "The stink is so bad you can't go in there anyway."

Even though she's hungry, one hurricane refugee in the dome says she's not eating. Michele Boyle says eating would mean she'd have to use the dark, dangerous and filthy restrooms in the dome. So she's going without.

Boyle has been spending some of her time trying to keep a small area of the dome as clean as she can until help arrives. Boyle and other refugees found some brooms and swept up the mess.

She says they're simply "trying not to let it get any worse."

12:06 P.M. - ATLANTA (AP): Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said he will sign an executive order Friday to suspend state motor fuel taxes through the end of September to "relieve some of the financial burden" on consumers in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The order will remove the 7.5-cents-a-gallon tax and a 4% sales tax on gas, the governor said, and was set to begin at midnight.

The move comes as gasoline in some parts of the country has risen above $3 a gallon, triggering thousands of consumer complaints of price gouging.

Political leaders in several other states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, have either proposed or said they are considering gas tax suspensions in their states.

Perdue said the tax break in Georgia would cut the cost of gas by about 15 cents a gallon. He also called on gas stations to pass the savings along to customers.

"This is not an opportunity for our stations or our businesses to reap a windfall for themselves," Perdue said.

11:57 A.M. - STOCKHOLM (AP): The head of the United Nations is urging other countries to help the United States in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Speaking in Sweden today, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said the U.N. itself can't offer any money but does have extensive experience and expertise in disaster response.

Annan asked all countries and other organizations that can help to give their assistance.

Yesterday the U.N. chief called the damage "far worse than any of us expected." Annan said Americans have always been generous in responding to disasters around the world, but that now the U.S. itself has suffered a serious blow.

11:50 A.M. - WWL-TV: Army Corps of Engineers reports progress being made in filling the levee breaches with giant sandbags and interstate pilings.

11:45 A.M. - U.S. Postal Service spokesman: 4,000 postal workers in the Greater New Orleans area can call 1-877-477-3273 to check in.

Anyone with friends or relatives who are currently stationed in the Houston Astrodome can get a letter out to them by writing the following on the front of their envelope:

(The name of the person you are trying to reach)

General Delivery

Houston Astrodome 77230

11:44 A.M. - (AP) Fire destroyed one in a row of old four-story brick buildings in the central business district Friday. The building was residential, but firefighters said there were no reports of injuries. The structure, not far from the casino and convention center, had minimal damage in the storm but burned to rubble.

Since there is no water in the city system, firefighters were unable to fight the blaze and stood by watching.

"There was nothing they could do," said Chief Norman Woodridge.

The blaze appeared to be contained within the firewalls. It was across the street from two high-rise hotels, where employees were dumping buckets of water on their wind-shredded awnings to prevent embers from lighting them. A half block from the fire, authorities with rifles stood guard.

The building was residential, and earlier in the week people, who apparently rode out the storm there, were sitting on a rooftop patio. Authorities said they were not aware of anyone in the building when the alarm was sounded. Virtually all the city is being evacuated because there is no water or electricity, let alone food and sanitation.

11:35 A.M. - BOISE, ID (AP): Another C-130 from the Idaho Air National Guard is leaving Gowen Field in Boise to support Gulf Coast hurricane relief efforts.

Before heading to New Orleans, the plane is stopping in Portland today to load supplies and equipment for Oregon National Guard security forces being deployed to the disaster area.

Yesterday, two C-130s from Idaho left for the Gulf Coast, one carrying Nevada National Guard security forces and the other loaded with 28-thousand bottles of water.

11:31 A.M. - NEWARK, CA (AP): A leading risk assessment firm is projecting the economic loss from Hurricane Katrina and flooding in New Orleans at over $100 billion.

Risk Management Solutions says the losses are the result of two separate catastrophic events: the landfall of Hurricane Katrina last Monday, and the New Orleans flood which resulted from failure of the levee systems that protect the city.

The company says at least 50% of the total economic loss is expected to come from flooding in New Orleans, in addition to hurricane losses from wind and coastal surge, infrastructure damage, and indirect economic impacts.

On Monday, RMS issued preliminary insured loss estimates of up to $25 billion for Hurricane Katrina, prior to evidence of the levee failure and flooding.

Credit rating agency Standard and Poor's has said that damage from the hurricane could reach $50 billion once damage to bridges, roads and other public infrastructure is counted.

11:27 A.M. - HOUSTON (AP): A Houston sports complex is now home to about 18,000 hurricane refugees from Louisiana.

15,000 of the storm evacuees are in the Houston Astrodome. An additional 3,000 are in a nearby horse arena.

Houston Mayor Bill White says the nearby Reliant Center and the George R- Brown Convention Center are being prepared to house additional refugees.

Conventions and other events booked into those facilities are going to be displaced.

Officials are urging residents throughout the region to help locate garage apartments and other housing that could be temporarily made available to displaced families.

Arrangements are also being made to post highway signs directing those displaced by the storm to cities where other temporary shelters have been opened.

11:24 A.M. - City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard Lewis (Dist. E): Wants to put the focus on police officers and firefighters who have never waivered in their tireless fight to restore law and order, and save as many buildings and people as humanly possible.

11:20 A.M. - WWL-TV: Aerial shots show firefighters battling a blaze downtown.

11:13 A.M. - WWL-TV: State Senator Walter Boasso said rescue efforts in St. Bernard are moving along well, and more than 10,000 people have been evacuated. "We haven't stopped," Boasso said. Evacuees are being ferried out of the parish to Algiers before being moved along to shelters in either Houston, Texas, or somewhere else around the state.

According to Boasso, the only way in or out of the area is by boat or helicopter. Rescuers have been throwing bottles of water to those that they cannot pull out immediately for whatever reason. "We're doing the best we can," he said.

Boasso said donations can be made by calling 225-342-2415.

11:07 A.M. - (AP): Thousands of National Guardsmen with food, water and weapons streamed into Louisiana on Friday to bring relief to New Orleans' suffering multitudes and put down the looting and violence. "The cavalry is and will continue to arrive," said one general.

The assurances came amid blistering criticism from the mayor and others who said the federal government had bungled the relief effort and let people die in the streets for lack of food, water or medicine.

In Washington, President Bush admitted "the results are not acceptable" and pledged to bolster the relief efforts with a personal trip to the Gulf Coast on Friday.

"We'll get on top of this situation," he said before setting out, "and we're going to help the people that need help."

11:04 A.M. - WWL-TV: To have your mail delivered to a new address, please call 1-800-ASK-USPS. Or online at USPS.com.

11:02 A.M. - WWL-TV: Bank One and Chase are asking their employees to check in with them by calling 1-866-475-7623.

10:58 A.M. - MOBILE (AP): President Bush has launched his tour of the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast with promises of money and the restoration of order.

Bush vows the government will stop the lawlessness in New Orleans. He also says ten and a-half billion dollars in emergency funds being approved by Congress is a small downpayment for disaster relief.

As he was embarking on his first-hand look, Bush said he was not looking forward to the trip.

In Bush's words, "It's as if the entire Gulf Coast were obliterated by the worst kind of weapon you can imagine."

He spoke with the pilot of a rescue helicopter who told him of flying roof-to-roof, rescuing families of four and five people -- a job the pilot said seems to never end.

10:43 A.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's too early to predict how long it will take to remove the floodwater from New Orleans because the Army Corps of Engineers is still planning how to accomplish the feat, its commander said Friday. "We're certainly talking weeks," Lt. Gen. Carl Strock told reporters at the Pentagon.

10:39 A.M. - President George Bush: The great city of New Orleans will be rebuilt. Out of this tragedy will come a great Gulf Coast.

10:37 A.M. - Bush: First we're going to save lives and stabilize the situation.

10:33 A.M. - (AP) A large fire erupted today in an old retail building in a dry section of Canal Street. There's no immediate reports of injuries.Earlier today, an explosion at a chemical depot rocked an area of New Orleans east of the French Quarter.

10:16 A.M. - HOUSTON (AP) -- The U.S. Postal Service is making arrangements to get mail to evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. Officials are urging the evacuees to file change-of-address cards listing their shelter's address. The plan could help reunite familiy members sent to shelters in various cities.

A change of address can be filed by telephone at 1-800 ASK-USPS.

People who believe they may have family members at the Houston Astrodome can address their mail to the named individual at " General Delivery Houston, Texas 77230." Similar arrangements are being made for major shelters set up for people evacuated to other areas of the U.S.

10:03 A.M. - An untold number of vacationers remain trapped by Hurricane Katrina. Dozens of them from places like Tennessee, Arkansas, even Canada, have banded together to stay alive.

Their hotel tried to get them out yesterday, hiring ten buses for them. But federal authorities commandeered the buses. They were told to go the convention center. There, they found no food or water, only an angry crowd.

9:59 A.M. - DENVER (AP) -- The Dave Matthews Band will perform a Sept. 12 concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, with all profits to go to charities supporting victims of Hurricane Katrina. "The amount of generosity from around the country I'm sure is staggering right now from people just giving what they can," Matthews told The Associated Press in a phone interview Thursday.

"We're just getting in line behind those people, getting in line a long way behind the Red Cross or National Guard, but we all have to do a little bit."

9:53 A.M. - LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Hilary Duff has pledged to donate $250,000 to help Hurricane Katrina victims on the Gulf Coast. The 17-year-old singer-actress will give $200,000 to the American Red Cross and $50,000 to USA Harvest, which is supplying food to shelters, according to a statement released Thursday by publicist Cece Yorke. The latter donation will amount to more than 300,000 cans of food being provided to victims.

Duff encouraged fans to bring canned food donations to her concerts and to give money to charities.

9:47 A.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pumping the water out of New Orleans could take a month or more, according to a former head of the Army Corps of Engineers.

Removing the water depends on how much of the pumping capacity engineers can get working, former Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers said Friday.

Optimistically, the capacity could lower the water as much as a foot a day, but it is likely to start more slowly and could take a month or more, he told The Associated Press.

9:43 A.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Stephanie Riegel: It was too late Tuesday to figure out that you couldn't evacuate a poor population, many with no way out.

9:39 A.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hundreds of thousands of people are finding themselves out of work and their livelihoods in limbo following the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. Experts believe it will take months before people get back to work in hurricane-ravaged areas. Some workers may not have jobs to return to and others may opt to move away and find work elsewhere, economists and other experts said.

Workers in flooded-out New Orleans, which faces major and potentially lengthy cleanup challenges, are taking the biggest hit, analysts said.

9:36 A.M. - BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) -- Crude oil prices dropped more than $1 a barrel and gasoline futures fell sharply Friday as key allies discussed releasing supplies from their stockpiles to help offset U.S. shortages that have driven retail gas prices in some parts of the country above $3 a gallon.

9:34 A.M. - NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The National Guard wants hurricane-ravaged New Orleans to know, the cavalry is coming. Lieutenant General Steven Blum of the National Guard says seven-thousand National Guardsmen are arriving in Louisiana today to "to save Louisiana citizens."

He says the only thing they'll be attacking is "the effects of the hurricane," but adds they are prepared to "put down" the violence "in a quick and efficient manner."

9:22 A.M. - State Representative Karen Carter: If you want to help...get a bus. We have comandeered other things, we need to comandeer Greyhound. You want to help? Send buses and gas, buses and gas. I don't need $10 million right now - send buses and gas!

9:20 A.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- In the span of a week, Baton Rouge has become Louisiana's most-populous city -- at least temporarily -- and a big chunk of that growth is likely to be permanent, officials say. Evacuees from the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged New Orleans area have poured into East Baton Rouge Parish, along with rescue personnel using the city as a home.

"Baton Rouge is now the largest city in Louisiana and it's going to be for quite a while, if not permanently," said Walter Monsour, the top administrator to the president of the city-parish government.

9:13 A.M. - JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- There are reports of ice for ten dollars a bag and gasoline at six dollars gallon as Mississippi, like Louisiana, tries to recover from Hurricane Katrina. Mississippi's attorney general says he'll investigate the complaints. Many residents remain without food, water, electricity or gasoline. Some officials say 126 people are dead, but Governor Haley Barbour says he's been told it's more like 150 and likely to grow.

8:16 A.M. - National Guard spokesman: We're here to save Louisiana and restore order to the lives of the civilians.

8:16 A.M. - National Guard spokesman: The majority of the citizens have responded in an exemplary manner.

8:16 A.M. - National Guard spokesman: This is a massive airlift here. The calvary has arrived and will continue arriving.

8:13 A.M. - National Guard spokesman: We have several hundred police officers on the way.

8:13 A.M. - National Guard spokesman: We now have the resources we need to get this situation under control.

8:05 A.M. WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush says relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina are not acceptable. As he prepares to depart for a tour of the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, Bush assures people "we'll get on top of this situation." He says millions of gallons of water and tons of food are on the way.

8:03 A.M. - John Ballard, Tangipahoa Parish : Between six and eight dead in Tangipahoa.

8:02 A.M. - (AP) An explosion at a chemical depot jolted residents awake early Friday, illuminating the pre-dawn sky with red and orange flames over a city awash in corpses and under siege from looters. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Vibrations from the blast along the Mississippi River and a few miles east of the French Quarter were felt all the way downtown. A series of smaller blasts followed and then a cyclone of acrid, black smoke.

To jittery residents of New Orleans, it was yet another fearful sight in a city that has deteriorated rapidly since Katrina slammed ashore Monday morning.

7:03 A.M. - Maestri: We had a plan and we followed it (on storm coverage). Mayor Nagin and those in Jefferson believed that within 48 hours food, water and security would be here. It didn't happen.

7:01 A.M. - Jeff Parish Emergency Operations Center Director Walter Maestri: 17th Street Canal Levee breach is now under control...not fixed...but under control.

6:59 A.M. - Jeff Parish Emergency Operations Center Director Walter Maestri: Civil unrest is basically under control in Orleans and Jefferson.

6:58 A.M. - Maestri: Explosions Friday morning were NOT a result of thuggery, but merely gas problems that exploded in Bywater.

6:42 A.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is trying to make clear that the government understands how dire the situation is in New Orleans.

There's been a growing chorus of complaints from refugees and the city's mayor, who complain about what they say has been a slow federal response to the hurricane, flooding and lawlessness.

Mayor Ray Nagin said last night that the feds "don't have a clue" about what's happening.

Mike Brown tells CNN he didn't know the New Orleans Convention Center was being used as a staging area for evacuees until he saw news coverage. He blames that on a lack of communication with city officials. As Brown puts it, "we don't know where everybody is."

6:40 A.M. - "New Orleans is an economic disaster. This tragedy is so unprecedented people could be out of work for three, six, nine months or longer," said Rajeev Dhawan, director of the economic forecasting project at Georgia State University.

6:39 A.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lawmakers are demanding an investigation into gasoline prices after thousands of motorists called a government hotline to complain of price gouging.

The Energy Department reported more than 5,000 calls to its price gouging hotline Thursday from around the country, although officials emphasized there was no way to immediately determine how many of the allegations were valid.

6:37 A.M. - The mayor of New Orleans is seething over what he sees as the government's slow response to his city's disaster. Ray Nagin went on WWL Radio last night to say the feds "don't have a clue what's going on." He added, "Excuse my French -- everybody in America -- but I am pissed."

The mayor says he needs troops and hundreds of buses to get refugees out. Nagin accused state and federal officials of "playing games" and "spinning for the cameras." He says he keeps hearing that help is coming, but "there's no beef."

6:20 A.M. - Terry Ebbert, the head of emergency operations for New Orleans. "This is a national disgrace. FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."

6:10 A.M. - (AP) Texas agreed to triple to 75,000 the number of evacuees being taken in from Louisiana. Houston officials temporarily stopped admitting people to the Astrodome late Thursday after accepting 11,325. Others will be housed in the adjacent Reliant Center, where the Houston Texans play football.

6:08 A.M. - St. Bernard Parish resident who was rescued after three days: "I love Chalmette, but I'm out. I'm not coming back."

6:07 A.M. - Jefferson Parish Emergency Operations Director Walter Maestri: Entergy is considering pulling out its crews trying to bring power back until there is some semblance of order. Entergy says some crew linemen have been shot at.

6:06 A.M. - James Hartman, St. Tammany Parish spokesman: The parish has had few problems with unrest. Some citizens are frustrated, but we've had little looting and mostly a spirit of cooperation.

6:05 A.M. - James Hartman, St. Tammany Parish spokesman: Gas leaks still rampant, needing to be repaired.

6:04 A.M. - Hartman: "We have no fuel. People are coming here and running out of gas."

6:02 A.M. - Hartman: We have taken over a radio station - AM 730, by authority of the parish president and trying to broadcast information to the Northshore.

6:00 A.M. - Hartman: People need to stay away and if they haven't left, they need to get away right now.

5:54 A.M. - (AP) An explosion in New Orleans jolted residents awake early this morning, illuminating the pre-dawn sky with red and orange flames over the city where corpses rotted along flooded sidewalks and bands of armed thugs thwarted fitful rescue efforts. The cause of the blasts or the extent of any possible damage is not known.

5:52 A.M. - NEW YORK (AP) -- Major League Baseball and the NBA have each pledged two million dollars to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and the Southeastern Conference is donating one million to disaster relief.

5:50 A.M. - "Don't buy gas if you don't need it," President Bush .

5:48 A.M. - (AP) Military helicopters on Thursday dropped about 150 massive sandbags into the levee breach that allowed flood waters from Lake Pontchartrain to pour into New Orleans, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers general said.

The 3,000-pound sandbags are part of a temporary plan aimed at plugging the hole in the levee. The Corps also plans to drop concrete highway dividers and seal the spot where swirling waters undermined and toppled the floodwall, said Brig. Gen. Robert Crear, commander of the crew working to fix the floodwall. "We're dumping things into the hole, just to stem the tide," Crear said.

5:46 A.M. - (AP) Many celebrities with relatives or other ties to the flooded city and the Gulf Coast have voiced their empathy for those devastated by Hurricane Katrina; some have been directly affected. Fats Domino was photographed being brought to safety by boat after the hurricane hit, his daughter Karen Domino White said Thursday.

5:44 A.M. - Master P, also a New Orleans native, told The Associated Press that his uncle, father-in-law and sister-in-law, among others, were unaccounted for. His father was missing until recently. "We just got caravans of family members (evacuated)," Master P told the AP Thursday. "It's just devastating."

5:41 A.M. - (AP) Doctors at two desperately crippled hospitals in New Orleans called The Associated Press Thursday morning pleading for rescue, saying they were nearly out of food and power and had been forced to move patients to higher floors to escape looters. "We have been trying to call the mayor's office, we have been trying to call the governor's office ... we have tried to use any inside pressure we can. We are turning to you. Please help us," said Dr. Norman McSwain, chief of trauma surgery at Charity Hospital, the larger of two public hospitals.

5:37 A.M. - Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco declared war on looters as 300 National Guard troops landed in New Orleans fresh from duty in Iraq. "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will," she said.

5:31 A.M. - HOUSTON (AP) -- After accepting more than 11,000 Hurricane Katrina refugees, officials said the Astrodome was full and began sending buses to other shelters in the Houston area Thursday night.

"We've actually reached capacity for the safety and comfort of the people inside there," American Red Cross spokeswoman Dana Allen said. She said people were "packed pretty tight" on the floor of the Astrodome.

Buses that continued to arrive were being sent on to other shelters in the area and as far away as Huntsville, about an hour north of Houston.

5:27 A.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- After helping to triage and evacuate hospital patients in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina's wrath bore down on the city, Louisiana Health Secretary Fred Cerise could only choke back tears. "We have people there that we know we haven't been able to reach yet," he said, his voice breaking and his eyes rimmed red from lack of sleep.

5:24 A.M. - UNDATED (AP) -- Hurricane Katrina damaged or displaced an estimated 58 Gulf of Mexico oil platforms and drilling rigs. The American Petroleum Institute says among those, 30 rigs and platforms have been reported lost. Tim Sampson, an A-P-I spokesman says no company breakdown was available.

5:10 A.M. - CNN reports explosions believed to be railroad cars.

5:07 A.M. - CNN producer Jim Spellman, who has been stationed with police sharpshooters, says reports indicate that New Orleans officers are not showing up for work. In some districts as many as 60 percent of officers have not reported for duty.

4:55 A.M. - Refugee Alan Gould spoke to CNN from inside the New Orleans Convention Center. He said sick, eldery and children are dying and children have been beaten and raped. He pleaded for help.

4:41 A.M. - CNN reports fires, explosions erupting in southwest part of New Orleans. Thick smoke is billowing into the air. Police are working to get hazmat teams to the area, which is near Chartres Street. That is where railroad cars are housed.

3:05 A.M. - (AP): First the federal government took the buses they had hired to evacuate them.

Then their hotels turned them out onto the desolate streets.

They trudged for blocks to walk over a bridge, but officers wouldn't let them cross -- and fired a few warning shots over their heads to convince them.

And the night was coming down.

Despairing, dozens of trapped tourists huddled on a downtown street corner and waited for dark.

"I grew up in an upper-middle class family. Street life is foreign to me," said Larry Mitzel, 53, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. "I'm not sure I'm going to get out of here alive."

The fate of tourists in dozens of hotels here was caught up in the days of chaos and confusion that came after Hurricane Katrina's 145 mph winds.

Many smaller hotels shut down. The largest housed hundreds and hundreds of guests and took in refugees from the storm. How many remained Thursday was unclear.

Tourists and hotel managers alike condemned government officials for ignoring them.

"The tourists are an afterthought here," said Bill Hedrick of Houston, who came to town on business and was trapped with his wife and elderly mother-in-law.

"We're appalled," said Jill Johnson, 53, of Saskatoon. "This city is built on tourism and we're their last priority."

Peter Ambros, general manager of the Astor Crowne Plaza in the French Quarter, said, "Guests who bring business to the hotels are treated 10 times worse than the people at the Superdome."

FRIDAY 2:43 A.M. - (AP): After helping to triage and evacuate hospital patients in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina's wrath bore down on the city, Louisiana Health Secretary Fred Cerise could only choke back tears.

"We have people there that we know we haven't been able to reach yet," he said, his voice breaking and his eyes rimmed red from lack of sleep.

Unable to continue describing the devastation, Cerise stepped away from a briefing podium Thursday and ended early his outline of the state health department's assistance in storm-ravaged New Orleans. Later, Gov. Kathleen Blanco hugged him tightly, and they wiped away tears.

11:41 P.M. - (AP): After accepting more than 11,000 Hurricane Katrina refugees, officials said the Astrodome was full and began sending buses to other shelters in the Houston area Thursday night.

"We've actually reached capacity for the safety and comfort of the people inside there," American Red Cross spokeswoman Dana Allen said. She said people were "packed pretty tight" on the floor of the Astrodome.

Buses that continued to arrive were being sent on to other shelters in the area and as far away as Huntsville, about an hour north of Houston.

"We're asking that people be patient. Ultimately they are going to be comfortable," Allen said.

The total of 11,375 inside the Astrodome was less than half the estimated 23,000 people who were expected to arrive by bus from New Orleans in Houston.

11:29 P.M. - (AP): Col. Henry Whitehorn, chief of the Louisiana State Police, said he heard of numerous instances of New Orleans police officers - many of whom from flooded areas - turning in their badges.

"They indicated that they had lost everything and didn't feel that it was worth them going back to take fire from looters and losing their lives," Whitehorn said.

11:08 P.M. - CNN reports that the Astrodome in Houston has shut its doors and will no longer accept refugees.

10:49 P.M. - (AP): Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco declared war on looters as 300 National Guard troops landed in New Orleans fresh from duty in Iraq. "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will," she said.

10:16 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): The last time Congress came back from a vacation early, it made a failed effort to save Terry Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman in Florida. The scene Thursday bore similar life-or-death overtones but without the controversy, as a few lawmakers began returning to House and Senate chambers from a monthlong summer break to high-speed $10.5 billion to cover Hurricane Katrina costs.

It's no easy task, putting that kind of money on the fast track. But the devastation in New Orleans, Mississippi and other Gulf Coast areas puts unprecedented pressure on Congress to help.

"This country's never seen a refugee challenge," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Thursday on CNN's "Larry King Live."

"Hot-lining a bill" is Senate shorthand for the expedited process by which leaders bring up and pass a bill with only a few members present because nobody objects.

10:15 P.M. - (AP): Helicopters hauled hundreds of patients from New Orleans-area hospitals Thursday, but the job wasn't half done, according to the ambulance executive coordinating the evacuation.

Richard Zuschlag, president and CEO of Acadian Ambulance Service Inc., estimated that helicopter crews evacuated 400 to 600 patients Thursday. "We still have probably somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 to get out," he said that evening.

The patients were taken to New Orleans' international airport, triaged, and put into C-130 aircraft with 60 to 80 patients in each, he said.

From there, he didn't know where they went.

8:10 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): Military helicopters on Thursday dropped sandbags into the levee breach that allowed flood waters from Lake Pontchartrain to pour into New Orleans, Louisiana's top transportation official said.

The sandbags are part of a temporary plan aimed at plugging the hole in the levee. The next part: drop about 250 concrete road barriers into the area and seal the spot where swirling waters undermined and toppled the floodwall, said Johnny Bradberry, head of the state Department of Transportation and Development.

"We'll start putting in the concrete when we run out of sand," Bradberry said.

The lake's levels have dropped about 2 1/2 feet over the past two days, about equal to the water level in flooded areas on the other side of the levee, Bradberry said. Contractors also had finished building a road that will make it easier to get heavy equipment to the levee area that needs to be repaired.

7:39 P.M. - AUSTIN (AP): Texas agencies will work to ensure Louisiana residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina receive food and health care benefits while in Texas.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission said today its offices in some Texas cities will extend office hours to help refugees with Medicaid, food stamp benefits and other aid.

Pharmacies have received instructions on how to help Louisiana Medicaid recipients who need prescriptions filled in Texas.

Louisiana food stamp recipients can use their electronic benefit cards at large retailers such as HEB and Wal-Mart. The agency also is working to provide Louisiana clients of the Women, Infants, Children Program those benefits in Texas.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services also is helping place Louisiana foster care children, including 49 children from a New Orleans facility.

The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services is working to find nursing facility beds. So far, the Texas agency has served more than 2,500 Louisiana families displaced by the hurricane.

7:29 P.M. - (AP): Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Jimmy Field says about 800 thousand people are without power and more than 800 thousand phone lines are out of service.

7:11 P.M. - (AP): The Internal Revenue Service is weighing in on the impact of Hurricane Katrina on both donors and victims.

It's reminding people who'd like to contribute cash to the relief effort to make sure the charities qualify for tax-exempt status. If so, then donors can deduct the contribution from their federal income taxes. The IRS is also setting up a hotline for hurricane victims, offering information on tax relief programs, tax return information and disaster tax loss kits.

It says those who've suffered personal and business losses in the storm shouldn't worry about tax deadlines or lost paperwork. The agency says anyone in the disaster areas who is sending correspondence or payments should write "Hurricane Katrina" in red ink at the top of any documents.

7:08 P.M. WASHINGTON (AP) -- Thousands of consumers are flooding a government hotline to complain about alleged gas-price gouging. Some lawmakers are demanding an investigation into the steep spike in prices this week.

7:04 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- The military expects to put 30,000 National Guard troops on duty in the Gulf states as demands grow for more security and relief assistance, the commander in charge of military relief and rescue efforts said Thursday.

About 24,000 of those will be on the ground in Louisiana and Mississippi in the next three days, Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore said in a telephone interview with reporters at the Pentagon. He also ordered the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan from the Louisiana coast to waters off Biloxi, Miss., to assist with hurricane relief operations there.

The additional Guard units, plus active duty troops responding to the disaster, brings the total military complement to more than 40,000.

6:54 P.M. WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., issued the following statement today in response to comments in the suburban Chicago Daily Herald by Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. The paper reported Speaker Hastert as saying "It doesn't make sense" to rebuild New Orleans following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Sen. Landrieu said:

"While I disagree strongly with Speaker Hastert's comments regarding the city of New Orleans, he raises a debate that we can address at some time in the future. Right now, however, we have important work to do. I encourage Speaker Hastert and our colleagues to focus time and attention today and tomorrow on providing Louisiana with the local, state and federal security resources necessary to support Governor Blanco's efforts to stabilize this very challenging situation.

"When we do discuss the long-term rebuilding of New Orleans and the parishes of St. Tammany, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and Jefferson, I will do everything I can to express that southeast Louisiana is filled with the most extraordinary of people and blessed with the most extraordinary of resources. Not only are they worth saving, but they are worth every penny of a complete rebuilding effort.

"I thank Speaker Hastert for his concern and look forward to speaking with him in person as soon as we are able."

6:46 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress rushed to provide a $10.5 billion down payment in relief aid for Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina on Thursday as President Bush ordered new action to minimize disruptions in the nation's energy supplies.

"Don't buy gas if you don't need it," he urged consumers already hit by sharply rising prices.

6:28 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- Six truckloads of medical materials from the Strategic National Stockpile are headed to hurricane-stricken Louisiana and Mississippi, and 10 temporary hospitals should open at area military bases by Friday night.

The government said emergency medical shelters are being established at Fort Polk, La., the Mississippi Air National Guard Station in Jackson, Eglin Air Force Base near Pensacola, Fla., and the Naval Air Station in Meridian, Miss.

The shelters are in addition to one at Louisiana State.

6:09 P.M. - Email from viewer on people stranded in downtown hotels:

I talked to my neice this morning. She works at the Sheraton right across the street and had beenat the hotel from Sunday night until this morning. She said that while the first floors of all of the downtown hotels were flooded about 5 feet deep, most are in decent shape and the people inside are doing pretty well - the hotels were stocked with quite a bit of food and bottled water/beverages.

5:51 P.M. - CNN Reports that someone in the convention center says dead bodies have been seen inside and outside the facility.

5:33 P.M. - AUSTIN (AP): Texas has agreed to accept another 25,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees -- and they'll be heading for Dallas. Officials earlier announced refugee groups estimated at 25,000 apiece will be housed in Houston and San Antonio.

5:30 P.M. - NEW YORK (AP): NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue says it's unlikely the Saints will play in New Orleans this season after the devastation Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath inflicted on the city.

The Saints will move into a hotel in San Antonio, Texas, this weekend and practice in San Antonio in preparation for their regular-season opener at Carolina September 11. They have spent this week in San Jose, California, and played their final exhibition tonight in Oakland.

But it still hasn't been decided where they will play their regular-season opener September 18 against the New York Giants or play the rest of their games.

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which runs Giants Stadium, has offered to host the upcoming Giants-Saints game there. It would likely be played Monday, September 19 because the Jets will play Miami that Sunday at Giants Stadium.

Tagliabue said moving the game to New Jersey is one possibility.

He also said games could be played at another NFL stadium or at a non-NFL stadium. He didn't name any specifically, but the Alamodome in San Antonio seats 65,000 for football.

5:27 P.M. - (AP): House Speaker Dennis Hastert says it makes no sense to spend (b) billions of dollars to rebuild New Orleans, which is seven feet under sea level.

Hastert, in a transcript supplied by the newspaper, said there was no question that the people of New Orleans would rebuild their city, but noted that federal insurance and other federal aid was involved.

Hastert's press secretary, Ron Bonjean, said Hastert was not suggesting New Orleans should be abandoned or relocated.

Hastert announced today that the House, currently at the end of its summer break, would return for an emergency session tomorrow to approve some $10 billion in federal aid for hurricane victims.

5:24 P.M. - (AP): Even when Katrina's floodwaters are pumped out of New Orleans -- a process that could take weeks -- the city will be anything but dry.

Buildings, vehicles and their contents will be waterlogged and covered with mud. Whatever debris is currently sloshing around in the floodwaters will be strewn about the city in enormous piles.

Everything will be waterlogged, most of it ruined. It will be a monumental task just coordinating the collection and disposal of debris and trash.

Virtually everything worth keeping will have to be washed off, decontaminated and dried out. The city's drinking water distribution system will need to be flushed out and disinfected, a process that could take weeks or even months.

Buildings will have to be stripped down to their studs and dried out with dehumidifiers, a process that can't even begin in New Orleans until electricity is restored weeks or months from now.

For many homeowners, the expense and effort may not even be worth it. The median home in New Orleans costs about $87,000 -- by the time you figure in debris removal, demolition, drying and rebuilding, it may be cheaper simply to knock the whole house down and build a new one on its foundation.

5:18 P.M. - WWL-TV: Seven children, ages 7-years to 4-months-old, were rescued this afternoon and are waiting at an evacuee station for their mother, who is missing.

5:14 P.M. - WWL-TV: Hibernia Corporation is requesting that all of its employees who live in areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina call the following toll-free number: 1-800-707-0489. They want to find out where you are and how you are doing. If you need help, they will put you in touch with the right resources.

5:11 P.M. - WWL-TV: Robert M. Gates , President of Texas A&M University, said the Galveston campus will welcome 1,000 displaced students for up to one year. They will be charged the state minimum for tuition.

5:08 P.M. - WWL-TV: The Oakwood Mall is on fire. Emergency crews are on the scene, but water pressure is so low, firefighters are having a tough time keeping the blaze under country.

5:04 P.M. - Cecil Picard, State Superintendent of Education: All Department of Education meetings have been cancelled for the month of September. He urged displaced families to get their children registered in school systems outside Louisiana. Picard said he wants to make sure that every displaced teacher, bus driver, cafeteria worker, counselor and custodian has a job.

4:58 P.M. - (AP): The New Orleans suburb of St. Bernard Parish is little more than "water, water everywhere" with a few rooftops sticking above the floods of Hurricane Katrina, a government official who escaped the devastated region said Thursday. Click here.

4:50 P.M. - Rev. Jesse Jackson: "We cannot turn on each other. We must turn to each other." Jackson said he'll be in town as long as he can; maybe five or six days. He asked people to help one another, calling the aftermath of the disaster "a great faith tester."

4:49 P.M. - Red Cross official: This is the largest humanitarian relief project going on in entire nation.

4:47 P.M. - ST. PAUL (AP): A Minnesota manufacturer of power generators is lengthening its shifts and expanding its work force to crank out more machines needed to bring power to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Coleman Powermate of Springfield has already added 20 workers and is looking for more skilled welders, assemblers and metal fabricators to keep the plant running for 22 hours instead of the usual 18.

Plant manager Paul Klimek says the company wants to double the generator output.

Klimek says the demand is endless and every truckload of generators the company producers is heading south to the hurricane area.

The company makes 5,000 and 6,000-watt generators that can provide enough power to run household appliances.

4:45 P.M. - (AP): In a dramatic turnabout, the United States is now on the receiving end of help from around the world as some two dozen countries offer post-hurricane assistance. Click here.

4:40 P.M. - HOUSTON (AP): Some Hurricane Katrina refugees in Houston are getting food, a place to shower -- and a chance to go online.

Companies and non-profit agencies are working to give thousands of evacuees at the Astrodome more access to the outside world. Donated computers with high-speed Internet connections are planned as part of the effort described as "Technology For All."

A center is being set up with 40 desktop computers loaded with office productivity software and connected to the Internet.

The sprawling stadium already has a bank of telephones set up. D isplaced residents from the Superdome in New Orleans are getting ten-minute blocks of time to make free local and long-distance calls.

4:36 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): New Orleans Archbishop Alfred Hughes says he and thousands of other evacuees from New Orleans are being housed in Roman Catholic churches, schools and gymnasiums in Baton Rouge.

He told CNN that the Baton Rouge area's population of 350,000 is expected to double as refugees continue to arrive from New Orleans.

The archbishop says a special collection will be taken up at Catholic churches nationwide this Sunday for hurricane relief. Hughes notes that contributions also can be made to Catholic Charities or to the American Red Cross.

4:34 P.M. - (AP): Supplies ran dry at a small-but-growing number of gas stations across the United States on Thursday as Gulf Coast refiners and pipelines remained hobbled by Hurricane Katrina and motorists nervous about tightening supplies lined up to top off their tanks.

Most of the stations with "Out of Gas" signs and yellow caution tape draped across their pumps were concentrated along the East Coast and in Midwest states. Station owners said many of the shortages were temporary, exacerbated by panic buying and delayed deliveries.

A few stations turned off their pumps because wholesale prices were rising so fast that they were selling fuel at a loss -- even as prices spiked overnight to levels well above $3 a gallon.

Governors in Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania urged motorists to conserve fuel and they warned retailers about alleged price gouging. President Bush also called for conservation and sought to calm motorists, saying that Hurricane Katrina would only cause a "temporary disruption" to the supply of gasoline.

Gas stations ran dry in many states, including Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia West Virginia and Wisconsin.

4:31 P.M. - BAGHDAD (AP): National Guard troops from Louisiana and other Gulf states will not be withdrawn from Iraq ahead of schedule, despite devastation from Hurricane Katrina.

Some units already are due to leave next month, ending a year in Iraq, but the process could take weeks to complete.

The U.S. Command says it has installed help lines for troops trying to contact family members. Still, pressure appears to be building for an early pullout allowing troops to return to their home states battered by Katrina.

More than 18,000 National Guard troops in the United States have been dedicated to Katrina relief and security. This could be the largest military response to a natural disaster.

4:22 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): The Times-Picayune of New Orleans will resume printing a newspaper -- days after Hurricane Katrina forced it to abandon a printed edition. The newspaper has been available online. Officials hope to print 50-thousand copies, using the facility of The Houma Courier, a newspaper 60 miles southwest of New Orleans.

4:19 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): The Rev. Jesse Jackson was expected to arrive in Louisiana on Thursday to visit with evacuees forced into shelters by Hurricane Katrina and then to see the devastation the storm has wrought on New Orleans.

State Sen. Cleo Fields, who invited Jackson to the area, said Jackson intended to stay in the storm-affected areas "as long as it takes to restore hope to the people who have lost everything in the wake of Hurricane Katrina," according to a news release from the Louisiana Senate.

Jackson was expected to receive a briefing from emergency preparedness officials before traveling to the Baton Rouge shelters and to New Orleans.

4:15 P.M. - (AP): Police say storm victims are being raped and beaten inside the New Orleans Convention Center.

About 15,200 people who had taken shelter at the convention center to await buses grew increasingly hostile.

Police Chief Eddie Compass says he sent in 88 officers to quell the situation at the building, but they were quickly beaten back by an angry mob.

Compass says, "We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten."

He says tourists are walking in that direction and they are getting preyed upon.

In hopes of defusing the unrest at the convention center, Mayor Ray Nagin gave the refugees permission to march across a bridge to the city's unflooded west bank for whatever relief they can find. But the bedlam appeared to make leaving difficult.

4:11 P.M. - HOUSTON (AP): More patients from hurricane ravaged hospitals in New Orleans and other medical facilities along the Gulf Coast arrived today in Texas.

Many of the patients are being transported to Houston by planes landing at Ellington Field.

Doctors and nurses at the airport are offering the evacuees preliminary care before sending them to Houston-area hospitals. Some hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth areas also have been receiving patients from Louisiana.

4:07 p.m. - WASHINGTON (AP): It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to rebuild a city that's seven feet under sea level, House Speaker Dennis Hastert said of federal assistance for hurricane-devastated New Orleans.

3:09 P.M. - (AP): The Bush administration intends to seek more than $10 billion to cover immediate relief needs in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, congressional officials said Thursday, and lawmakers made plans to approve the request by the weekend. "It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed," the Illinois Republican said in an interview Wednesday with The Daily Herald of Arlington, Ill.

Several officials said $10 billion would cover immediate costs for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the government's front-line responder in cases of natural disasters. Several hundred million dollars would also be provided to fund the Pentagon's disaster relief efforts, congressional aides said.

3:06 P.M. - (AP): Fights and fires broke out, corpses lay out in the open, and rescue helicopters and law enforcement officers were shot at as flooded-out New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday. "This is a desperate SOS," the mayor said.

Anger mounted across the ruined city, with thousands of storm victims increasingly hungry, desperate and tired of waiting for buses to take them out.

"We are out here like pure animals. We don't have help," the Rev. Issac Clark, 68, said outside the New Orleans Convention Center, where corpses lay in the open and the and other evacuees complained that they were dropped off and given nothing -- no food, no water, no medicine.

2:48 P.M. - Gov. Blanco: "Thousands" are believed to be dead. And between 200 and 300,000 people still need to be evacuated from the city. 2,400 people are still waiting to be evacuated from the Superdome.

One official said the Army Corps of Engineers are currently driving pilings, dumping sand, into the breaches in the levee. Concrete barriers will go up after the sand is laid down. They will assess the pumps, and it could take as long as one month before the water is completely drained from the city. The Army Corps is being escorted to the levees by State Police.

Blanco said 12,000 National Guard troops from various regions in the nation are being deployed to the area, bringing the total number of troops to 40,000. The Governor added that looters will be dealt with. Blanco said Baton Rouge has its own concerns with refugees, who have reportedly been causing similar trouble in the state capital.

Hospital evacuations are going well. Chalmette and Tulane Hospitals are emptied.

No casualty list reported yet.

2:40 P.M. - AP Analysis: When is looting okay?

2:37 P.M. - CNN Reports that snipers have fired shots on Charity Hospital in New Orleans.

2:31 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- With images of looting and reports of gunfire frightening evacuees and rescuers alike in New Orleans, the government says it is sending enough National Guardsmen to keep the peace.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says there have been only "isolated incidents of criminality" in New Orleans.

2:25 P.M. - Email to WWL producer today from a friend: Talked to Donny (news photographer Donny Pearce of WVUE) today for a while, he's in Shreveport with his folks, sounds very shaken up, had a horrifying escape from the city apparently, people hanging on his truck begging for help/food/money....saw all the looting,, taped the storm shredding JP Sheriffs headquarters.

2:20 P.M. - Airport spokeswoman Michelle Duffourc: There have been hundreds of helicopter operations over the past 3 days as the helicopter are bringing in people that are being rescued from throughout the region to transfer to civilian and military aircraft to take them to points of safety.

2:14 P.M. - Airport spokeswoman Michelle Duffourc: Armstrong International Airport did become operational on Tuesday, August 30 for humanitarian relief flights and civilian and military rescue efforts. Since opening the airfield, several of our commercial air carriers, including American, Southwest, Northwest, Continental, United, and Delta have all sent in aircraft with relief supplies and have taken out the stranded travelers as well as all others who wanted to depart the Airport. In total over 100 employees, 200 stranded passengers and 400 others were flown out of Armstrong International.

2:13 P.M. - Duffourc: The Airport has been on generator power since Monday, August 29 with the bare power necessities. CA One Services, our Food & Beverage Concessionaire has been providing meals to those stranded in the terminal.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has set up a triage center in the Airport's West Terminal near the Delta and Continental Ticket Counters and has been treating people that have been evacuated from the Superdome in Downtown New Orleans and other locations.

2:11 P.M. - Blanco: Please stop broadcasting that there is "shooting in the Superdome." She said everyone brought inside was checked for weapons before entering. "There is no shooting inside the Superdome." She says the incorrect reports are upsetting the people inside of the dome who have been very calm.

2:06 P.M. - Corps of Engineers: Lake water continues to go down. Dropped two to two and a half feet in the past two days. Work progressing on plugging break in levee. Sandbags dropped and pilings being driven. Engineer says progress is "looking good."

2:04 P.M. - (AP) Fights and trash fires broke out, rescue helicopters were shot at and anger mounted across New Orleans on Thursday, as National Guardsmen poured in to help restore order across this increasingly desperate and lawless city.

"We are out here like pure animals. We don't have help," the Rev. Issac Clark, 68, said outside the New Orleans Convention Center, where corpses lay in the open and he and other evacuees complained that they were dropped off and given nothing -- no food, no water, no medicine.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the government is sending in 1,400 National Guardsmen to help stop looting and other lawlessnes in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

1:54 P.M. - Emergency Operations spokesman: Hospitals overwhelmed.

1:53 P.M. - Emergency Operations spokeswoman: 49,800 people in shelters in this state right now. Room for 70,000 more.

1:48 P.M. - Blanco: troopers from Arkansas, Texas and Kentucky coming in to help restore order. Sheriff's deputies from as far away as Michigan.

1:47 P.M. - Blanco: I've requested 40,000 troops.

1:47 P.M. - Governor Blanco: Superdome now under control, evacuations resume.

1:37 P.M. - (AP): Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday that 1,400 National Guard troops per day are being sent in to control looting and lawlessness in New Orleans, quadrupling the regular police force in the city by the weekend.

Already, 2,800 National Guardsmen are in the city to help local police since Hurricane Katrina produced devastating floods in New Orleans, Chertoff said at a news conference with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Another 1,400 Guard troops and military police units are being added daily, he said.

1:32 P.M. - New Orleans Homeland Security Chief Terry Ebbert calls FEMA's response to Hurricane Katrina an embarrassment.

1:28 P.M. - WWL-TV's Dennis Woltering describes driving over the Crescent City Connection to go into town for an interview, and seeing the silhouette of the city as "eerie."

1:20 P.M. - (AP): South Carolina is sending 300 Army National Guard soldiers to Louisiana to help efforts to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

Guard spokesman Lieutenant Colonial Pete Brooks says officials have started assembling a military police company, a water purification company and a transport unit.

1:09 P.M. - (AP): The singer known for "Blueberry Hill" and "Ain't That A Shame" has been missing since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

His agent says Fats Domino planned to ride out the storm at his house in a low-lying area of the city with his wife and daughter.

Al Embry says he spoke with Domino Sunday night by phone, but hasn't been able to contact him since. Embry says he would think Domino is safe because "somebody said he was on top of the balcony."

Domino is 77 and has rarely appeared in public in recent years.

12:43 P.M. - Kim Nunemaker, St. Bernard Ave. Specialty Hospice: 26 bed-ridden patients and 40 staff members have to evacuate from the building. They need assistance moving these patients down several flights of stairs because the elevator is broken. Anyone who can help is asked to come to 3700 St. Charles Avenue immediately.

The generator powering the building is on the verge of running out of fuel.

Nunemaker said it was raining outside and there were some strong winds.

Catherine Sweisgood, a co-worker, said they need to get the people out of there before dark. The patients need to be brought to Touro so they can be airlifted out of harms way.

12:38 P.M. - (AP): Two French Quarter hotels says federal officials have foiled their plans to hire buses to ferry guests to higher ground.

The general manager of the As