NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — Receding floodwaters in New Orleans yielded more grim discoveries yesterday, as 30 bodies were reportedly found in a nursing home and officials said 25,000 body bags had been sent to the disaster zone.
Soldiers and police struggled to encourage diehard New Orleans residents to leave the city, while US administration fielded outspoken criticism over its handling of the crisis.
Vice President Dick Cheney went to see the devastation first hand and assess ways to cut red tape hampering the relief operation.
Hundreds of corpses are being recovered from the city’s flooded streets and in trapped homes as army engineers step up a massive operation to pump the putrid water from New Orleans which is expected to take up to three months.
US Army engineers are pumping around 228,000 liters (60,000 gallons) of putrid water out of deluged New Orleans every second, Louisiana state officials said yesterday.
“As of Wednesday, all pumps in the metropolitan area were pumping 8,041 cubic feet, or about 60,000 gallons, of water per second” out of the city, the state Department of Transportation and Development said.
The US Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday that 23 of the shattered low-lying city’s 148 permanent pumps were operative and starting to drain New Orleans of the water that has covered much of the city for 10 days.
The receding waters gave up more deadly secrets.
The bodies of at least 32 people were found at a nursing home southeast of New Orleans, media reports said.
Sheriff Jack Stevens said the bodies were found Wednesday, while 40 to 50 survivors had been rescued, according to CNN.
The grim discovery at the nursing home was likely the first of many awaiting those scouring the city, with officials warning that 10,000 people may have died in New Orleans alone.
The White House yesterday declined to speculate on a final death toll, but warned of grim news to come.
“It is going to be a very ugly situation when those flood waters recede and we start to go in and recover bodies and we look at the additional public health issues that need to be addressed,” spokesman Scott McClellan said.
City Mayor Ray Nagin warned the country to brace for some “awful” revelations as drained areas revealed Katrina’s human cost.
With 10,000 to 15,000 residents still holding out in New Orleans, Louisiana police and soldiers faced difficult choices in enforcing a mandate to empty the flooded city.
Nagin authorized the use of force on Tuesday but, with a number of residents still awaiting voluntary evacuation, rescue teams have so far avoided confrontations with those determined to stay.
“Once all the volunteer evacuations have taken place, then we’ll concentrate our efforts and our forces to mandatorily evacuate individuals,” New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass said.
Federal troops have joined the house-to-house search for survivors, but senior military officers made it clear they would stand back if it came to compelling people to leave their homes.
“When this turns into a law enforcement issue, which we perceive forced evacuation is, regular troops would not be used,” said Maj. Gen. Joseph Inge, deputy commander of the US Northern Command.
As of Wednesday, there were 18,000 active-duty soldiers and 45,000 National Guard troops in the area of the Gulf Coast devastated by Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into the region on Aug. 29.
The decision to authorize forced evictions was clearly taken reluctantly by officials anxious to avoid traumatic scenes with people who have already suffered extreme deprivation.
Nagin cited the growing threat of disease posed by the toxic floodwaters in the city.
Health officials said five evacuees had already died of exposure to contaminated water.
As Congress hurried toward approval of a $51.8 billion emergency hurricane aid package, President Bush on Thursday mapped a plan to get a wide range of government benefits — from Medicaid coverage to job training — to storm victims who have scattered around the country.
Bush, under fire for the government’s response to the devastation so far, was to announce initiatives aimed at helping people “get back on their feet” in a 2 p.m. EDT address from the White House, spokesman Scott McClellan said.
The plan was to cover not only the immediate distribution of debit cards of $2,000 per household to families evacuated from homes in Louisiana and Mississippi, but other federal government benefits such as child care, food stamps, housing, and unemployment insurance, McClellan said.
Congress moved with unusual speed to approve Bush’s latest request for aid, including debit cards worth $2,000 for households victimized by the storm.
The bulk of the money would go into a Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief fund that is offering the debit cards. FEMA anticipates handing out 320,000 cards, at a cost of $640 million, to help displaced residents buy clothing, pay for transportation and other “emergency supplies they need,” Director Michael Brown said.
Congressional budget aides briefed by the White House said state and local governments would receive almost $8 billion from the federal government for debris removal, school aid and infrastructure repair and replacement. An estimated $500 million would pay for helicopter costs, repairs to sewer and drainage systems, and other storm-related expenses, said an aide to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., a member of the House Budge Committee.
Expecting a surge in people seeking health benefits, state officials have asked Congress to pick up 100 percent of the costs for any Medicaid recipients added to their rolls as a result of Katrina.
And as the international response to the disaster gathered momentum, nearly 200 Mexican troops arrived, setting foot on US soil for the first time in 159 years to help with recovery efforts.
Meanwhile, tropical Storm Ophelia strengthened yesterday off Florida’s Atlantic coast, menacing one of the few spots spared serious damage from the six hurricanes that have hit the state in 13 months.
Moderate winds blew and spurts of rain hit the Jacksonville area yesterday morning, interspersed with brief moments of blue sky. Ophelia, with sustained 60 mph winds, was stalled offshore about 60 miles east-northeast of Cape Canaveral, but forecasters said it was impossible to say what path the storm would take, or whether it would reach hurricane strength.
“We are as ready as we can be,” said Eric Fort, general manager of a Jacksonville Beach hotel, as he stocked up on canned goods. “People are concerned. All it takes is a look at New Orleans to understand the strength of Mother Nature.”
