OxfordPress.com

New Orleans mayor warns 10,000 dead 'wouldn't be unreasonable' estimate

METAIRIE, La. –Some residents re-entered storm-ravaged Jefferson Parish Monday for a brief glimpse of their flooded homes as New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said it "wouldn't be unreasonable" to estimate 10,000 dead from Hurricane Katrina.

But a week after the massive storm roared ashore, there was good news as engineers repaired the 200-foot-long breach in the 17th Street Canal that had allowed water from Lake Pontchartrain to help flood New Orleans. That enabled pumps to start lowering the water level so the bowl-shaped city can be drained.

By late Monday, it was clear that the floodwaters already had begun to recede. Downtown streets were merely damp, not hidden by water.

Earlier, a miles-long line of cars snaked into suburban Jefferson Parish after authorities announced a dawn-to-dusk window for residents to inspect what was left of their property and retrieve personal items.

Entry required an ID proving residency, food, water and a full tank of gas. Parish President Aaron Broussard, mindful of lawlessness in Katrina's aftermath, had cautioned women not to come alone.

Vast portions of the 460,000-population parish, located west and south of downtown New Orleans, suffered heavily flood damage. Some returning residents wept. Others gazed in awe at the destruction. Residents will be allowed to return until Wednesday.

Authorities used aerial reconnaissance to estimate that perhaps only about 10,000 living residents remain in New Orleans. Rescue workers on Monday continued a frantic search for them. Despite dwindling supplies of food and water, some refused to be evacuated because they didn't want to leave their pets or homes.

"What our officers are telling people is that there is absolutely no reason to stay here," Warren Riley, the city's deputy police chief, told reporters. "There are no jobs. There are no homes to go to, no hotels to go to. There is absolutely nothing here."

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the tally of the dead cannot be made until the house-to-house search for living victims is concluded. When the death count is totaled, he warned, it will be an "unhappy memory."

The filthy, fetid water has turned to a kind of toxic soup, elevating public health concerns. CNN reported that the Pentagon is considering using C-130 cargo planes to fly low over the city to spray for mosquitos that might carry the West Nile virus.

But in addition to the repaired levee break, there were other improvements that spurred optimism Monday that things were getting better.

"We're making great progress now," Nagin told NBC's "Today" program. "The momentum has picked up."

Canal breaches that had allowed water to rush into New Orleans were nearly repaired. Pumps were ready to start sucking the water from the city. In some areas, electricity was being restored and commerce was edging back to life.

Residents returning to Jefferson Parish saw evidence that their community, while suffering horribly, was still there.

Karen Jackson, at the wheel of the big yellow school bus that she has been living in since the storm, drove into her neighborhood beside Highway 61. Parked in Baton Rouge, the bus has been home to her and fives neighbors for a week.

"The brother of my friend owns the bus," she explained. Entering her half of a duplex, she blanched at the stench.

"It really, really stinks in here," she said. "It's unlivable like this."

"Look where the water was," she said, pointing to a line about midway on a wall. "It got everything wet. My TV. My computer. All my papers."

She left everything where it was.

"They told us not to touch anything and wait for FEMA to come through," she said. "I rent here. I don't own the house."

In Baton Rouge, she said, people have allowed the busload of refugees to use their bathrooms.

Sharing the duplex and the school bus, Patricia Bazile said her wardrobe was ruined.

"I paid $200 for those leopard shoes," she moaned. "I love them. Maybe they'll dry out."

Downed power wires draped over giant uprooted oaks on dozens of streets. Cars maneuvered around broken glass.

Steve Guidry and his 16-year-old son, Jonathan, came to get some of the "niceties" from their house.

"I wanted to get my daughter's jewelry and my son's snake cages," he said. The snakes – two boas and an Arizona mountain king snake – evacuated with the family to Lafayette, where they're staying with Steve Guidry's younger brother.

"Yes, we took the snakes, two dogs and a mother-in-law," said the elder Guidry.

He had no idea when the family could move home. He works as supervisor of inspections and testing for agricultural products and his office is closed. So he'll have to work in Memphis for a few weeks.

On Houma Blvd., Toni Madson told how her family stayed through the hurricane.

"We had nowhere to go," she explained. "We lost power at 3:45 a.m. Sunday – the clock stopped then – and we haven't had any since."

"It was the scariest thing I've ever been though," she said. "But the children, they just slept through it."

Despite uprooted trees all around, her house was largely undamaged. "Thank the good Lord," she said.

Residents had to leave again by 6 p.m. so the same stream of vehicles that had rolled east in the morning turned and faced the sunset at the end of the long day. At every major intersection, National Guardsmen directed traffic.

Neighborhoods were deserted. Schools stood empty. Trees leaned against many houses, branches jammed through shingles.

Hustling to meet the deadline, Brian Benefield poured gas from six plastic containers into his Ford Excursion. A loaded rental van was parked nearby.

"We're packing up everything in the house and moving to Lafayette," he said. "I work for Harrahs Casino. They've been awesome and paid us for 90 days. It gives us a chance to get our lives together, but who knows when they'll be able to re-open."

So he and his family will be living with his in-laws for awhile, he said.

On the way out, pick-up trucks loaded with mattresses and furniture pulled boats with outboard motors. Perhaps anticipating forced cook-outs, a man in a New Orleans Saints cap drove a pick-up with a Weber grill in the back.

President Bush, who visited Baton Rouge and Poplarville, Miss., on Monday, would have received a rude welcome had he stopped in New Orleans. The city's newspaper, The Times-Picayune, published an open letter to the president that blistered the federal emergency response effort.

"We're angry, Mr. President, and we'll be angry long after our beloved city and surrounding parishes have been pumped dry," it read. "Our people deserved rescuing. Many who could not have been were not. That's to the government's shame."

The letter said "every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be fire, Director Michael Brown especially."

(The Associated Press contributed to this story)

Bob Dart may be e-mailed at bobdart(at)coxnews.com