Floodwaters recede in New Orleans, Katrina death toll rises

NEW ORLEANS – Floodwaters continued to recede in this storm-stricken city yesterday, leaving a shattered landscape of ruined homes and foul-smelling sludge as the death toll from Hurricane Katrina passed 650.

President George W. Bush took responsibility for government failures over Katrina, which slammed into the region on August 29. Speaking one day after getting his first close-up view of Katrina’s catastrophic impact on New Orleans, Bush said the hurricane “exposed serious problems in our response capabilities at all levels of government.””To the extent that the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility,” he said in Washington on Tuesday.”I want to know what went right and what went wrong,” he added.The head of the US federal disaster agency, Michael Brown, has already been forced to resign over the agency’s handling of the disaster.Facing mounting criticism, Bush is scheduled to deliver a speech Thursday outlining his plans for the stricken region.Louisiana state confirmed an additional 144 deaths, taking the toll in the state and neighbouring Alabama, Florida and Mississippi to 657.Louisiana’s attorney general Charles Foti on Tuesday pressed negligent homicide charges against the two owners of a New Orleans nursing home, where the bodies of 34 people were found drowned.The nursing home “should have been evacuated,” Foti said, adding that owners Mable Mangano, 62, and Salvador Mangano 65, ignored an offer to help.Foti said he was also investigating the deaths of 45 people at a New Orleans hospital.The bodies were found on Sunday.Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco angrily accused the government of not moving fast enough to recover bodies and said she would bring in a private contractor to help.”In death as in life, our people have deserved better than they have received,” she said.New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport reopened to commercial traffic, giving a sorely-needed boost to the city.A Northwest Airlines jet from Memphis, Tennessee, became the first of three commercial planes to land on Tuesday.All traffic since the storm has been relief or military flight.New Orleans port has already reopened and in a further positive sign, New the flood water receded noticeably.In the Gentilly and Mid-City districts, waters were at least 1,3 metres lower than on Sunday, thanks to the mass of pumps churning billions of litres a day back into Lake Pontchartrain.Military experts had estimated it would take up to three months to drain the city, but they now say it should be dry by early October.New Orleans remains a desolate sight, emptied of its half million people, who have been scattered across the country.The dark and pungent waters that inundated the streets after the city’s levees were breached have left behind a sludge of trash, debris and the corpses now being counted.Scientists painted a grim picture of the environmental impact of the hurricane, fearing chemical pollution could contaminate groundwater, fisheries and seafood.- Nampa-AFPSpeaking one day after getting his first close-up view of Katrina’s catastrophic impact on New Orleans, Bush said the hurricane “exposed serious problems in our response capabilities at all levels of government.””To the extent that the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility,” he said in Washington on Tuesday.”I want to know what went right and what went wrong,” he added.The head of the US federal disaster agency, Michael Brown, has already been forced to resign over the agency’s handling of the disaster.Facing mounting criticism, Bush is scheduled to deliver a speech Thursday outlining his plans for the stricken region.Louisiana state confirmed an additional 144 deaths, taking the toll in the state and neighbouring Alabama, Florida and Mississippi to 657.Louisiana’s attorney general Charles Foti on Tuesday pressed negligent homicide charges against the two owners of a New Orleans nursing home, where the bodies of 34 people were found drowned.The nursing home “should have been evacuated,” Foti said, adding that owners Mable Mangano, 62, and Salvador Mangano 65, ignored an offer to help.Foti said he was also investigating the deaths of 45 people at a New Orleans hospital.The bodies were found on Sunday.Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco angrily accused the government of not moving fast enough to recover bodies and said she would bring in a private contractor to help.”In death as in life, our people have deserved better than they have received,” she said.New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport reopened to commercial traffic, giving a sorely-needed boost to the city.A Northwest Airlines jet from Memphis, Tennessee, became the first of three commercial planes to land on Tuesday.All traffic since the storm has been relief or military flight.New Orleans port has already reopened and in a further positive sign, New the flood water receded noticeably.In the Gentilly and Mid-City districts, waters were at least 1,3 metres lower than on Sunday, thanks to the mass of pumps churning billions of litres a day back into Lake Pontchartrain.Military experts had estimated it would take up to three months to drain the city, but they now say it should be dry by early October.New Orleans remains a desolate sight, emptied of its half million people, who have been scattered across the country.The dark and pungent waters that inundated the streets after the city’s levees were breached have left behind a sludge of trash, debris and the corpses now being counted.Scientists painted a grim picture of the environmental impact of the hurricane, fearing chemical pollution could contaminate groundwater, fisheries and seafood.- Nampa-AFP