Under water, overwhelmed

At least 55 killed as raging storm hammers 3 Gulf states

BY CYNTHIA DANIELS AND TINA SUSMAN | STAFF WRITERS; Daniels reported from Hattiesburg, Miss., and Susman from New York. This story was supplemented with wire service reports.

August 30, 2005

Emergency personnel rescue residents in New Orleans

Emergency personnel rescue residents from submerged houses in New Orleans, Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. (AFP / Getty Images Photo)

Hurricane Katrina killed at least 55 people as it slammed into the Gulf Coast "like a ton of bricks" yesterday, hurling boats onto highways, crumbling buildings and leaving more than a million without power in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.

The massive storm made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 145 mph and dropped within hours to a Category 1, but not before wreaking havoc in the three states.

Jim Pollard, spokesman for the Harrison County, Miss., emergency operations center, said late last night that 50 people were killed by Katrina in his county, with the bulk of the deaths at an apartment complex in Biloxi. Three other people were killed by falling trees in Mississippi and two died in a traffic accident in Alabama, authorities said.

"We pray that the loss of life is very limited, but we fear that is not the case," Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said. New Orleans had been in the direct path of Katrina, but the storm turned east just before landfall, leaving coastal Mississippi and Alabama to endure the worst of its wrath.

From gamblers fleeing floating casinos to dolphins at a marine park, it seemed every living being sought shelter from the storm, which killed 11 people last Thursday when it first made landfall in southern Florida. Katrina then headed back into the Gulf of Mexico and regained strength before coming ashore again yesterday at about 7 a.m., near Buras, La.

Shelter from the storm

New Orleans' Superdome housed 9,000 people who had nowhere else to go, and was itself badly damaged as the storm ripped away parts of the roof. Mayor Ray Nagin said several bodies were seen floating in the Bywater and Eastover neighborhoods. An estimated 40,000 homes were flooded in St. Bernard Parish east of the city.

Red Cross shelters were filled in Mississippi. In Alabama, residents of coastal and low-lying areas were told to evacuate. Waves from Mobile Bay swamped downtown Mobile, Ala., with up to 11 feet of water, and at least two deaths from a highway wreck attributed to the weather were reported. Three nursing home patients in New Orleans died, apparently as a result of stress, as they were being evacuated. Elsewhere, officials said it was too early to state casualty numbers.

Buildings crumbled in Hattiesburg, Miss., about 90 miles north of New Orleans. In Biloxi, Miss., emergency management officials said Gulfport Memorial Hospital had suffered major damage.

Some casinos along Highway 90 were flooded, and the interstate was littered with boats and other debris. The Jackson County Emergency Management Agency relocated to the courthouse after the roof came off its building in Pascagoula, Miss.

"The wind was blowing, howling and singing," said Charles Broker of Hattiesburg, who hunkered down in his trailer with his wife, Kathy, and their five dogs and two snakes. Shut out of shelters because of their pets and unable to afford a hotel, the couple hitched their trailer to the back of a truck and parked outside Dan's Discount, a rest stop and gas station along Highway 49.

As the storm raged, "everything started coming down around us," said Kathy Broker. First it was the giant billboard that advertises Dan's, which was pulled from the ground and sent flat on its back. Then a wall of Dan's fell backward, revealing insulation, beams and the backs of display cases. An 18-wheeler truck in the rest area was blown onto its side.

"There's not a street you can drive on that you won't find at least one tree down," said Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree.

"We went 90 miles north, and it still hit us," said Stanley Ribet of New Orleans, as he watched news on the tiny TV set he had brought to a Hattiesburg shelter. Ribet gasped as he viewed familiar streets flooded, and buildings with windows blown out.

About 1,000 other people were at the shelter, a county arena that became damp and muggy after hours without power. A long line formed for snacks of fruit cups and Fritos.

"I just want to get in my bed - if I have one," said Ricka Lange, of New Orleans.

"It's a waterbed now," her husband, Jonathan, quipped.

Fatalities feared, unknown

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said the storm hit "like a ton of bricks," and he feared there could be "a lot of dead people" found along the coast once emergency workers were able to assess the situation.

"This is a devastating hit," said Gulfport Fire Chief Pat Sullivan. "What you're looking at is Camille II."

Hurricane Camille hit Louisiana and Mississippi in 1969 as a Category 5 storm - the highest there is - and killed 256 people.

Hurricane Andrew, which also devastated South Florida, was slightly less powerful when it came ashore in New Iberia, La., in 1992, killing seven people and injuring 94.

"We've got major street blockage. There's buildings down. We've got boats in buildings and all the traffic signals are gone," Sullivan said.

At the beachside Marine Life Oceanarium, keepers moved dolphins Katelin, Cayenne and Jonah to a swimming pool at a Gulfport hotel.

There was no indication when people would be able to return to their homes. President George W. Bush declared states of emergency in Louisiana and Mississippi and urged people to remain in shelters until danger "from this devastating storm" had passed.

That could be awhile. Forecasters said Katrina, which was downgraded to a tropical storm last night, could spawn tornadoes as it crept northward and would bring heavy rains to the Tennessee Valley, the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions.

The government said an emergency assistance program would rush baby formula, communications equipment, generators and ice into hard-hit areas.

Adding to the problems caused by the storm was the likely hike in gas prices, due to the shuttering of oil operations in the Gulf. More than 700 offshore platforms and rigs were evacuated, and oil prices briefly topped $70 a barrel for the first time. In Alabama, an oil-drilling platform broke apart in the waters off Mobile, sending one huge piece into a bridge.

Bush administration officials said he was expected to use part of the country's 700 million barrels of emergency petroleum stockpiles to offset possible shortages caused by the storm.

Though it was far too early to say how much damage Katrina had caused, some insurance industry groups suggested it could generate as much as $25 billion in claims, making it the most expensive disaster since the Sept. 11 attacks.