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.
Hurricane aftermath: A doctor’s story
Greg Henderson is a pathologist from New Orleans.
After Hurricane Katrina struck he stayed in the city and has set up a makeshift hospital at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, along with fellow doctors who were attending a medical conference.
From there he sent updates to his friends on the desperate situation in the flooded city. One of those friends, S Syer, from Dallas, sent Mr Henderson’s latest update to the BBC News website.
Health concerns
The city has no clean water, no sewage system, no electricity, and no real communications.
Bodies are still being recovered, found floating in the floods.
We are worried about a cholera epidemic. Even the police are without effective communications.
A group of armed police are here at the hotel trying to exert some local law enforcement.
This is tough because looting is rampant. Most of it is not malicious looting.
These are poor and desperate people with no housing, no medical care, no food and no water trying to take care of themselves and their families.
[…]
Our biggest adventure today was raiding the Walgreens on Canal Street under police escort.
The pharmacy was dark and full of water. We basically scooped entire drug sets into garbage bags and removed them.
We are anticipating dealing with multiple medical problems and acute injuries.
Infection and perhaps even cholera are anticipated major problems.
Horror
The biggest question to all of us is: Where is the National Guard?
We hear jet fighters and helicopters overhead, but there is no real armed presence, and hence the rampant looting.
There is no Red Cross and no Salvation Army.
We are under martial law, so a return to our homes is impossible.
I don’t know how long it will be and this is my greatest fear.
The greatest pain is to think about the loss, and how long the rebuilding will take.
That, and the horror of so many dead people .