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CNN Live Today

Hurricane Katrina Aftermath; Cleanup and Damage Assessment; Insuring Against Flood

Aired August 31, 2005 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, good morning to you. Still a lot to get to over the next three hours.
Two big stories we are following for you this morning. In Iraq, pilgrims panicking, leading to a stampede. More than 600 people are dead, many falling into the Tigris River.

And in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the rescues go on, the recovery only beginning.

Here now is one of those rescues from New Orleans, two small children being taken in a cage up to a Coast Guard helicopter. Military crews are plucking people stuck on the roofs of their homes. State and local rescue crews are using boats to find residents. You almost hold your breath as you watch those two children go to safety.

Here's a look at others stranded by high waters. In Pascagoula, Mississippi, a reporter calling out to see if they're OK. These survivors are the fortunate ones. Search and rescue teams along the Gulf Coast in Mississippi have painted black marks on homes believed to have dead bodies.

You might remember this picture of mobile, Alabama, the bridge struck by an oil platform. Well, two lanes of that bridge are now open. Of course, a number of other bridges and roads in the region remain closed.

So here now are some of the latest developments in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. At least 70 people are believed to be dead in four states. That number is expected to grow as more devastated areas are searched. Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco has declared today a day of prayer. Blanco is asking for prayers for the victims, as well as for the rescuers. And for Americans concerned about gas supplies, energy secretary Samuel Bodman said today that oil will be tapped from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Slidell, Louisiana -- it is across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. Officials there say the downtown area is under 15 feet of water.

Miles O'Brien is in a drier part of Slidell, where he's been talking to residents coping with the disaster. Miles, good morning.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Daryn, good morning from Slidell, Louisiana. There you see, this is 2nd Street, second canal now, one of the citizens of Slidell on his way to check on one of his -- on a business there. And as you can see, the water has receded somewhat -- Ankle depth. It gets a little bit deeper down there, but in the southern part of the city, closer to Lake Pontchartrain, much deeper water. Even though -- a key difference here. Unlike New Orleans, where those levee breaches are causing such significant problems, the water rising days after the hurricane, the water is here steadily receding.

That's about the only good news I can tell you out of Slidell, however. We took a tour yesterday and get a sense of the devastation here -- 10,000, 15,000, maybe 20,000 trees down in this city of 30,000 people. Every turn you make, every street you go down represents some sort of obstacle as a result of falling trees. That was the wind component of this.

And then, as you referred to, Daryn, a 15-foot storm surge off of Lake Pontchartrain. Lake Pontchartrain really extended its banks right over Slidell. And many people had stayed in their houses, ended up being rescued from roofs. And this morning, there are some who are missing. We've heard from at least one woman whose husband -- they became separated in the midst of the storm, trying to get their children to safety. He was stuck in their mobile home, has not been seen from since. Just one of many stories.

And as you say, Daryn, when you mention that death toll, it's still very early. A lot of searching to be done.

The mayor of this town, Ben Morris, also gave us some insights into what is going on here. His perspective as a mayor is one thing. He says it's at least 12 weeks -- he's been told at least 12 weeks before the first lightbulb comes on here. In essence, this city could be really shut down for that period of time because there are no services here.

But he, like so many others in this city, has his own personal story. He lost his house. Three trees went into his house. And in the course of this loss of communication and electricity, he has been unable to communicate with his family, who fled to higher ground in Baton Rouge.

I asked him if he had a chance to check in with his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BEN MORRIS, SLIDELL, LOUISIANA: I really don't know where my wife is or my children are. They left town, which, you know, thank God they did. But there's no way -- our telephones don't work. Our cell phones don't work. So there's no way to talk to the outside world. In the last two days, the first time some of the media showed up and we've been able to get the message out, we were telling our folks don't come home. There's nothing here. There's no stores open. There's no gasoline. There's no lights. There's no -- you know, there's nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Through rain, through sleet, but not through Katrina. The United States Post Office, Slidell, Louisiana, like everything else here, is shut down. Most of those vehicles on the back side there were flooded out, and it's anybody's guess as to when anybody here will receive a piece of mail in Slidell.

The key is -- and you heard it from the mayor, Daryn -- people who have left here are strongly discouraged from coming back to check on their homes. And it's a natural thing to want to see how your possessions have fared. As the mayor put it, it won't be before too long before this city of 30,000 could very well have a homeless problem numbering 15,000 or 20,000. Imagine how that will tax their ability to recover -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Right. And that story's just going to be multiplied all along the Gulf Coast. You have to figure there's over a million people who have left their homes, who are waiting to come home, who have nothing to come home to, perhaps.

But I want to ask you about Slidell because for people not familiar with that part of the world, it's on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. So why, if the levee flooded on the other side of the lake, how is the problem on Slidell, as well?

O'BRIEN: It's all about elevation. We're six feet above sea level here, New Orleans six feet below. We're literally on the high side of Lake Pontchartrain. So as that levee empties out, water seeks its own level, it is heading down, and down is New Orleans. They call it a big basin. It's like a bowl, and that bowl is filling up. Slidell has the good fortune, if you can call it good fortune, if there's any good fortune in the wake of this, of being on the high side of Lake Pontchartrain, Daryn.

KAGAN: Miles O'Brien. Thank you, Miles. You're going to be very interested in this next development. All those folks in the Superdome? They have decided to move them to Houston. They're making the announcement that within the next two days, at least 25,000 people of Hurricane Katrina's refugees that are now holed up in the Superdome are going to go by bus to Houston, Texas. They're going to house them in the Astrodome.

Now, the Astrodome, sports fans will know, is an arena, a professional sporting event arena. Hasn't been used for years for sporting events. They're doing what they can to accommodate the people as quickly as possible, the governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, saying she wants everyone evacuated out of the Superdome within the next two days.

We've been talking for many days here about the very difficult and basically disgusting conditions inside the Superdome. There's no air-conditioning. There's been a hole in the roof. Sanitation's not working, and you have thousands and thousands of people that are holed up there. So they are picking up and moving them to Houston, Texas. More on that because that is the latest development.

This aftermath of Katrina is bringing out the worst, unfortunately, in some people. Many are a looting stores and homes in New Orleans, and that's brought out the National Guard to help police try to get a grip on the problem. One police officer is recovering after being shot by a looter. Louisiana's governor says authorities do intend to restore law and order.

There is hope this morning for better coordination among relief groups in New Orleans. Command centers are being brought together after the city's mayor expressed his frustrations in a very colorful way. Here is what the mayor, Ray Nagin, had to say in a phone interview Tuesday with WAPT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are there too many cooks in the kitchen? Is that what I hear you saying, Mr. Mayor?

MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: Absolutely. In my opinion, there's way too many frickin' -- excuse me -- cooks in the kitchen. We had this implementation plan going. They should have done these sandbagging operations first thing this morning, and it didn't get done. And quite frankly, I'm very upset about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And here's what the mayor told our Soledad O'Brien today on "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAGIN: Yesterday, I was a little frustrated. There was -- you know, I was expecting the levee to be plugged with some 3,000 -- pound sandbags, and it didn't happen. So we have command centers that are spread out in different locations, and this morning, we're going to bring all our command centers together so that we can get all the varying opinions in one room and start to work, you know, in synergy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: We move on to the east, where the governor of Mississippi says Katrina has dealt a harsher blow to the coastal area than Hurricane Camille did in 1969. Governor Haley Barbour believe deaths in his state will likely rise above 80.

Our Ted Rowlands is in one of Mississippi's hardest-hit cities, Biloxi. Ted, hello.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn. And we're just getting word from an official with the state emergency services that the unofficial death toll now in the state of Mississippi has gotten up to 110, and they believe that that number will rise as the days go by and they find more bodies. The reason it is an unofficial death toll, according to this official, is that the bodies have not been processed and identified. But it's a clear indication of where this is going.

And this is a clear indication of what they're up against -- piles of rubble left by Katrina. And this is being played out not only here in Biloxi but all across the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This used to be an apartment/hotel in the city of Biloxi near the casinos, and it is completely demolished, leveled by Hurricane Katrina.

The emergency -- FEMA, basically, has crews on the ground here. Right now, they have 18 70-person crews that are going to these communities and looking for any signs of survival. These are search and rescue experts that deal in collapsed buildings.

From here, it'll go into a recovery mode, once they believe that there is no hope for any survivors. But at this point, that has not been the case, and they are still actively looking for any sign of life. And then they're going to start the next phase of it, the recovery and the clean-up. As you can see, it is going to be a long, long time before things are anywhere close to being back to normal. There's still no power, no water, tough conditions and a tough road ahead for folks here in Mississippi.

KAGAN: Ted Rowlands, live from Biloxi. Ted, thank you.

It looks like the weather cooperating somewhat in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. But what is Katrina doing now, and what do people along the coast face in terms of possible rain? Here's Bonnie Schneider -- Bonnie.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Daryn, right now, Katrina bringing a lot of rain to the Northeast, especially to Montreal and Canada. We're seeing some heavy downpours. We call this the remnants of the storm, but it's still enough precipitation to cause some trouble. We're expecting one to three inches right along the pathway of Katrina. The movement is pretty quick to the Northeast at 35 miles per hour. It's moving through the eastern Great Lakes right now.

And right now, we're describing this storm at 16 miles to the North-Northwest of Akron, Ohio. So that's the way it's working out right now. We have winds sustained at 20 miles per hour still with Katrina, so it's still a pretty windy, messy storm to deal with.

In the meantime, I just want to show you there are some showers to the south of southern sections of Louisiana. Now, hopefully, this won't interfere too much with what's going on there to do the rescue work in the New Orleans area or anywhere in these southern parishes.

The only good point that I can say about this is that it may help a little bit with enhancing the situation as far as the heat goes because we're looking in the forecast, definitely some hot conditions there.

Just a quick look inside the eye of a hurricane. This is what we call the stadium effect because when you look inside a hurricane -- this picture was taken from NOAA photographers from a hurricane-hunter aircraft before landfall -- it looks so tall, almost like you're inside of a football stadium. An impressive picture, but unfortunately, a devastating one for much of the Gulf Coast.

I mentioned that shower that's going to pass through possibly southern Louisiana. The only advantages with that is that it may cool things down just a little bit. We're looking at a lot of heat in the picture for New Orleans. The three-day forecast is calling for high temperatures in the 90s with a lot of humidity -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Bonnie Schneider. Thank you, Bonnie. We'll be checking with you throughout the morning.

Meanwhile, we want to check on the U.S. military. Getting pictures now. This is the USS Shreveport, leaving shortly -- somebody give me a locator on this, please? This is Norfolk, Virginia. It is leaving Norfolk, Virginia, and heading down to the gulf area. The -- four U.S. Navy ships are leaving today to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. It is an amphibious ready group that is led by the USS Iwo Jima. It is sailing from Norfolk, from the naval base there. The ships are carrying helicopters, disaster relief teams, medical supplies and fresh water. That mission is a joint operation by the Department of Defense and FEMA.

You can read eyewitness accounts of Katrina at cnn.com/hurricane. You can also check out storm images and find a list of aid organizations, whether you're looking for help or looking to help yourself.

There is other news in the world to get to today. In Baghdad, hundreds of Shi'ite pilgrims are dead after a panic-incited stampede on a bridge. Witnesses say that chaos erupted when someone in the crowd screamed that from was a suicide bomber in their midst.

Let's go to the capital and CNN's Jennifer Eccleston with more on this -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Daryn. Well, Iraq's interior minister and also it's defense minister a short while ago giving us a little bit of a better picture of this massive loss of life north of Baghdad, a scene of chaos at an annual Shi'ite religious commemoration. At least 841 people now dead, mainly women, children and the elderly. They died during a stampede which erupted on a bridge over the Tigris River. This was a major thoroughfare, this bridge, for pilgrims to arrive at the Kadhimiya mosque, where the commemoration was taking place.

Now, according to the ministers, a pilgrim told Iraqi police that as thousands of people walked to the revered Shi'ite shrine that someone in the crowd shouted there was a suicide bomber. And as you can imagine, panic ensued as crowds tried to flee. Now, the crush of people forced a railing on that bridge to collapse, and then pilgrims tumbled off the bridge. Police say that while some were crushed to death in that melee, the majority of the dead drowned in the Tigris River. They say the number of dead is expected to rise, as they are still pulling people from the river.

We also know 322 people have been injured. They're being treated at five Baghdad hospitals, which are said to be absolutely overwhelmed by the number of casualties. Well, tensions were already high this day after a morning mortar attack on that same mosque killed 7 people and wounded 36 others. Daryn, U.S. forces responded to that morning strike with helicopter strikes, and they say they detained 12 people for questioning. Well, the ministers also said that three million Shi'ites have gathered in north Baghdad to commemorate the death of Imam Moussa al- Khadem (ph). He's a prominent -- he was a prominent figure in Shi'ite history. He is buried at Kadhimiya mosque, which is the third holiest shrine in Shia Islam.

And also, Daryn, today, the prime minister's office announced that there will be three days of mourning which will start today. And they've also put together a committee to investigate just if there was anyone responsible, if this was an act of provocation that caused that stampede or whether or not it was just a tragic accident -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Jennifer Eccleston live with the latest on that breaking story from Baghdad. Thank you.

We head back to the hurricane now and the survivors who are simply still trying to survive. When we come back, we're going to further examine the mind-boggling devastation and how victims are trying to cope with it. We'll also tell you ways you can help.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Another impact of Hurricane Katrina is the shutdown of crude oil coming out of the Gulf of Mexico, the source of about a quarter of U.S. production. The White House plans to tap into the federal petroleum reserves to help out. How much?

Let's check in with our Bob Franken and about other efforts coming out of the White House. Bob, Good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning. And the president is going to be coordinating all the efforts from here, cutting short his vacation in Crawford, Texas, to come back here. There was a perception during his father's administration that there was a lackadaisical response to Hurricane Andrew, and the president is not going to allow that to happen. He will fly back from Crawford, immediately go into a meeting of his inter-agency task force to try and present different ways that the government is going to try and present some hope to a hopeless situation.

The first manifestation we saw from here was the announcement by the energy secretary that there would be a release of some crude oil from the 700 million-barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The final aspects of that announcement just being made. The problem, in the minds of many, is that it's not really going to have that much influence on gasoline prices that are expected to top $3 a gallon before the week is over and before the Labor Day holiday because part of the problem down there is how that crude oil is refined into gasoline. The refineries have suffered quite a bit of damage and are closed down themselves.

Nevertheless, the energy secretary said on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING that this is not just a matter of substance but perception.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SAMUEL BODMAN, SECRETARY OF ENERGY: Well, our first job is to try to provide supply. One of the reasons you're seeing an increase in prices is that we have perceived shortages, and that's something that we can try to deal with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: This, of course, was just one of the many ways that the entire nation can be affected by the devastation by Katrina. But on the ground, there's such devastation that there's going to have to be a massive effort by the federal government and private agencies. And the president wants to make sure he is seen as at the head of that operation -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Bob, quickly, what about any effort for the president to visit the area?

FRANKEN: We're told that that's going to happen. He has an aversion to getting in the way, so that would probably take a day or so. And of course, since there's so many locations, the question is exactly where he goes. That's all going to be ironed out. Expect him to make a visit, though.

KAGAN: Bob Franken, live from the White House. Thank you.

Still to come: missing people, smashed homes, entire communities destroyed. Quite frankly, it's hard to fathom the depth of destruction throughout much of Mississippi and Louisiana. When we come back, we'll look at how some of the smaller communities are coping.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Among the many facilities shut down in New Orleans right now is the airport. They're looking to make another use of it. Our Ed Lavandera joins us now from New Orleans International Airport -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn. Well, we've spent the last 12 hours or so coming in with a team called the disaster medical assistance team with FEMA. And this is one of the teams that is being brought into the region to essentially set up field hospitals. We're here at the main New Orleans airport, where they're essentially turning one of the terminals here at the airport into a field hospital, and they're telling us that they expect many patients to be coming through here in the coming hours.

As I mentioned, many of these folks have kind of been flown into the region by FEMA. Many of them were camped out in Texas and parts of Louisiana, waiting to roll in. We spent almost three hours driving from Baton Rouge to New Orleans last night, just a 60-mile drive, in a mile-long convoy. Of course, security a major concern, one of the commanders giving a pep talk to the folks that were being rolled in here to the New Orleans airport last night and reminding people that with the concerns of a looting and carjackings and that sort of thing, to say that, you know, you're -- we're coming up across people who are tired, hungry, thirsty and just downright desperate.

But here, the main mission right now is to set up one of these field hospitals, and the work is going on behind me. To give you a sense of how massive this operation is, considering that the four major hurricanes that hit Florida last year, a FEMA official here tells me that there were never more than five of these hospitals set up for any one of those hurricanes. FEMA is dispatching nearly 40 of these teams across the region to handle all the injuries and casualties in relation to Hurricane Katrina.

This is a massive operation. The convoy we rolled in on last night was a mile, long. And there were several FedEx trucks that have been contracted out that have essentially been turned into rolling pharmacies to kind of help all of the patients that these teams expect to see. And of course, these are folks who normally work as doctors, nurses, nurses' aides from various parts of the country that have been flown in by FEMA to make all of this happen.

And as I mentioned, this is a massive operation. They expect to have this hospital up and running here in the next few hours -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Ed, I know you're focused on the hospital there. What about any timetable on when that will be a working airport once again?

LAVANDERA: You know, I'm still trying to find some airport officials that we might talk to. But it is an eerie scene here at the airport. It has also kind of turned into -- various parts of the airport are being used as a shelter. And quite honestly, the last time -- I've flown through this airport many times covering this part of the country, and it is always bustling. But it is quiet. It is dark, for the most part. Some generators have been brought in.

But throughout the terminal, you see people sleeping on floors. People look just downright miserable, to be honest. And it is just eerily quiet. There are no airplanes on the tarmacs. All of the counters are empty. It is an eerie scene in this airport, quite frankly.

KAGAN: Ed Lavandera, live from New Orleans International Airport in Kenner, Louisiana. Thank you, Ed.

Insured losses from Hurricane Katrina could reach a mind-boggling -- get this number -- $25 billion. Insurers are reassessing their risk, so right now would be a good time for you to reevaluate yours, whether you live anywhere near the Gulf Coast. Our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, joins us with her own top five tips about what you might not know about your own homeowner's policy. Gerri, good morning.

GERRI WILLIS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Good morning, Daryn. Good to see you.

Tip number one: You've got to watch the deductible. Hurricane deductibles can be far more than you ever anticipated. Typically, they're 2 percent of the value of your house. They can reach up to 15 percent of the value of your house if you have a beach property. And most people, Daryn, are used to paying a flat rate, $500, $1,000. Likely you will pay much more in the case of a hurricane.

Another important thing to note here. Your settlement will be reduced by the amount of your deductible. I think most people think, I have $100,000 worth of damage, I'll get $100,000. Not so. You'll get something less.

KAGAN: What about inflation?

WILLIS: Well, inflation is important because the cost of building materials goes up every year, and you want to make sure that if you have a problem, you're going to have enough money on hand to cover it. So get an inflation guard protection on your policy so that you can make sure you have enough on hand.

KAGAN: Here's something, a wake-up call from this story. Flooding is not included in most homeowner policies.

WILLIS: This is the big headline here, really, for this story. Most of these people will need flood insurance. They'll probably end up getting money from the federal government. But look, Daryn, across the country, 70 percent of the population lives across along the coasts. That means that they may have flooding. You've got to have a flood insurance policy. Check out the Nation Flood Insurance program on the Web, or you can call 800-638-6620. It's going to cost a few hundred dollars to get that coverage. For example, a policy for $150,000 to $200,000 worth of coverage, $400 to $500 a year.

So it's not nothing. Keep in mind, though, in this area that you're looking at right now, only one in four have flood insurance.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, what if you get hit not once but twice?

WILLIS: Well, if you remember last year, it was a big controversy in Florida, because people were getting double deductibles as one hurricane and then another came through their area. Now, they got rid of that in Florida, because it was so controversial. But that's not the case in the 17 other areas -- states that have these percentage deductibles. So people should know, if they are hit by more than one hurricane, they could be on the hook for double deductibles.

KAGAN: What if you're watching your premium go up?

WILLIS: Well, big question here is, will this problem make premiums rise? Will cost to consumers rise? It could happen, Daryn. Remember, after Hurricane Andrew, premiums went up 100 percent. So I think you want keep an eye out from any letters from your insurer to make -- to find out whether you're going to be facing more in the way of premiums in the coming years.

KAGAN: Gerri Willis, great tips for all homeowners, not just along the Gulf Coast. Gerri, thank you.

WILLIS: You're welcome.

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