Katrina death toll may be 10,000: mayor

By Mark Egan and Paul Simao

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Thousands of families returned to
pick up pieces of their battered homes outside New Orleans on
Monday and President George W. Bush promised to fix bungled
rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina killed as many as 10,000
people.

The search for storm victims went on as rescuers in boats,
helicopters and military vehicles went house to house looking
for stranded survivors.

A full week after Katrina crashed into the U.S. Gulf coast
and destroyed one of America’s most popular cities, the home of
jazz and Mardi Gras, no one knows how many people perished.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said “it wouldn’t be
unreasonable” for the death toll to rise to 10,000, although he
admitted he had no idea of the exact number.

As the government tried to regain control, police pleaded
with New Orleans’ remaining survivors to abandon the city.

“There are no jobs. There are no homes to go to, no hotels
to go to, there is absolutely nothing here,” Deputy Police
Chief Warren Riley said. “We advise people that this city has
been destroyed, it has completely been destroyed.”

Forensic experts prepared a warehouse for the grim task of
identifying victims when they are finally recovered.

Some are not hard to find as swollen bodies float in the
streets but officials fear thousands more are hidden in homes
across New Orleans, the home of jazz and Mardi Gras and one of
America’s most popular cities before Katrina tore it apart,

In suburban Jefferson Parish, stunned residents got a first
look at Katrina’s damage to their homes when it struck with 140
mph winds and a massive storm surge.

They were greeted by a panorama of toppled trees and street
signs, and spacious middle-class homes that had been flooded
with several feet of water.

“I try to be upbeat but it’s devastating. I may lose my
house because I may not be able to make my payments, and I
don’t know when I’m going to work again,” said Mark Becker, 48,
at his Metairie home.

Storm winds had ripped two holes in his roof and caused the
ceiling to collapse in a bedroom and kitchen.

Others said the damage could have been worse. They said
their homes were mostly intact and salvageable.

Many of those going back brought guns or friends or both
for protection in case they encountered looters.

The Jefferson Parish government told its residents not to
stay in their homes, but to gather items they needed and leave
again by nightfall because there was no power or clean water.

BUSH UNDER FIRE

Bush, who has faced fierce criticism for the slow relief
response, visited dozens of Katrina victims being cared for at
a prayer center in Baton Rouge and promised the country would
“do what it takes” to help people get back on their feet.

It was the second trip to the ravaged region in less than a
week for Bush, already suffering from the lowest approval
ratings of his presidency, largely because of the Iraq war.

He has admitted the early relief effort was “unacceptable”
and promised on Monday to make changes as needed.

“If it’s not right, we’re going to fix it, and if it is
right, we’re going to keep doing it. And this is just the
beginning of a huge effort,” Bush said.

Former President Bill Clinton joined the growing criticism
of the government response. “Our government failed those people
in the beginning. There is no dispute about it,” he told CNN.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune called on Bush to fire every
official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “We’re
angry, Mr. President,” the newspaper said in an open letter.

Former President George H.W. Bush, said he didn’t like to
see his son under fire but that it was part of the job.

“The president can take it,” he said. “It goes with the
territory.”

The official death toll in Louisiana stood at 59 but
officials said it would climb dramatically in coming days.

A warehouse in a Louisiana town is being set up to handle
thousands of corpses. Rows of stainless steel gurneys await the
first bodies and the concrete floors are covered with plastic
sheets to contain fluids that could pose a biohazard threat.

Temporary morgues were being set up around the region.

More than 100 deaths are confirmed in Mississippi and many
more are feared buried under piles of rubble or hidden in
attics where they took refuge from rising waters.

REGAINING CONTROL

Police and troops were regaining control of the city after
days of murder, rape and looting that horrified America and the
world.

Lights were going on in some neighborhoods of the stricken
city as the local power company began restoring electricity.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it had made progress
in repairing levees and began pumping water out of a flooded
district on Monday. Still, draining the entire city could take
80 days or more.

Two cruise ships based in Galveston, Texas, were expected
to start boarding evacuees later on Monday. They both have a
capacity for 2,600 people.

At least 240,000 evacuees had flooded into neighboring
Texas, where Gov. Rick Perry said the state could handle no
more and asked that any more be airlifted to other states.

Not all New Orleans residents wanted out. “They’ll have to
drag me out by my feet,” said Mike Reed, 49, as he swept debris
from the streets of the city’s historic French Quarter, which
experienced light flooding compared with other neighborhoods.

At least two French Quarter bars — Molly’s and Johnny
White’s — have been serving customers in the week since the
storm. “That’s our job. That’s just what we do,” said Molly’s
owner, Jim Monaghan.