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Plans to Bring New Orleans Evacuees to Houston; Hard-Hit Areas of Mississippi Face Daunting Task

Aired August 31, 2005 - 12:00   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I'm Daryn Kagan in Atlanta.
It is a region in dire straits trying to make it through one more day. The floodwaters are still rising in New Orleans. There's no time to count the dead as frantic efforts to save lives goes on.

To the east, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, some storm victims are also trapped by floodwaters. And in that state the death toll is climbing.

The scenes of damage and destruction continue as you cross the state line into Alabama. Officials say the worst damage appears to be on Dauphin Island, just south of Mobile.

The very latest now on the story seems to grow more tragic by the hour. Plans are in the works to bust thousands of storm victims that are still stuck in the Louisiana Superdome to the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. We're awaiting a news conference by the governor of Texas. We'll have live coverage of that when it begins.

The death toll from Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi is now at least 110. And it's expected to climb as searchers keep digging through debris.

Louisiana's governor has declared today a day of prayer. She is asking people to pray for the storm victims and the rescuers.

Let's go now live to Texas, where Governor Rick Perry holding a news conference, talking about these plans to bring evacuees to Houston.

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GOV. RICK PERRY (R), TEXAS: ... in Louisiana, Mississippi, who are calling Texas their temporary home. On behalf of all Texans, I want to say that each of these guests that are with us now, we are incredibly sorry for the loss that has occurred. Our prayers are with those families. And we want to send a clear message that they are welcome as long as they want to stay in this state.

This morning, I talked to Governor Blanco of Louisiana. We talked at length about some of the ways that Texas may help because of the sheer devastation in New Orleans.

She asked that if Texas would be willing to accept some 23,000 people who today are stranded in the Superdome. And I told her absolutely, that we will make that facility available, we will do our part to help them get through this tragedy.

Before this request even came in through the governor, yesterday we discussed with Judge Eckels (ph) the idea of turning the Astrodome into a long-term shelter to meet the needs, meet the housing, the food, the medical needs of those that are already stranded here in Texas. This request of bringing the Superdome individuals that are stranded in the Superdome now has even increased the need for that facility to be opened up.

Yesterday, the judge agreed that we could move forward on that. And the Astrodome schedule has already been cleared until December.

So, in the very near future -- and I don't know the hard timetable yet, Kathy -- but I would suggest in the next 24 hours we are going to see individuals arriving at the Astrodome. And I think there's some 500 buses that FEMA has made available to transport those individuals.

We've made contingency shelter arrangements in Jefferson County. Judge Griffith (ph) has been very gracious in his outpouring of support to convert the Ford Center into a long-term shelter.

As people currently taking refuge in hotels, they are going to begin to run short on resources. And we expect that there is going to be a growing need for shelters beyond the many that we've already identified and opened in the state. So we are going to continue to pursue contingency arrangements.

In the face of such tragic circumstances, we -- we know we're neighbors. And we are going to pull together so that these families can find as much normalcy as they can, understanding the extraordinary difficulty of these times.

There are families there that have lost everything. And to be available for them is very important at this particular point in time. And that's especially true for the children of these families, who have almost overnight been uprooted from their daily routines. And particularly that daily routine of going to school.

And I want those stranded families to know that the doors of Texas public schools are going to be immediately open to their school- age children. Under federal law, these children are entitled to enroll in school districts where they temporarily reside.

I also want those school leaders to know that we realize that this is going to put an extraordinary strain on their capacity. So I've asked the Texas Education Agency to work with them to make sure that we have, for instance, the textbooks that they are going to be needing for this additional pressure on those schools, funding for transportation.

There's going to be more pressure on those lunchrooms for the free lunch programs, the reduced lunch programs. Class size waivers are obviously going to come into place here. In addition, as of yesterday, I have mobilized a medical task force of the Texas National Guard that includes eight doctors. Hal (ph), you were talking about, you know, what is it that the medical community can do. And we've got five nurses, 10 physical assistants, 30 combat medics there headed to Pineville, Louisiana, as we speak.

One other action that I want to mention is, last night, I was on the phone with Governor Bush. He and I were talking about how Texas and Florida were somewhat the bookends, if you will, of -- to this tragedy, how we together can help to give Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana the assistance.

And certainly, Jeb has had more than his share of experience of dealing with these -- these hurricanes and the tragedy and aftermath. But Florida has some of their own concerns.

And they had made a request for a two-week supply of gasoline because of the interruption of pipelines in Florida. And to meet that specific need, I've asked the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to exercise enforcement discretion allowed to -- from the standpoint of loading fuel from a refinery site in Port Arthur on marine vessels that will transport that fuel to Florida.

We're coordinating with the Environmental Protection Agency concerning any regulatory waivers that are needed to -- or, I should say, needed to meet this urgent need. And I want Texans to know two important facts here regarding that action, is that it's not going to lead to any disruption of Texas fuel supply. And secondly, we are monitoring these emissions closely to make sure that they fall within our acceptable parameters.

Let me just wrap up by saying that we realize that by the grace of god we could be the ones that have this extraordinary need. Hundreds of miles to the west, and it could be Houston today that is facing this devastation.

These are our neighbors. These are people in need. And Texas is going to do everything that we can in our power to address those needs, to help these individuals, from offering our assistance to offering our prayers. And we are going to get through this together, and get through it together as one American family.

So, again, to the members of the legislature who are here with us, who worked diligently to pass Senate Bill Seven, thank you for your work. We will get it signed at the appropriate time in the future. And the fact of the matter is, if we've got more pressing issues with what's going on in Louisiana, it'll become law one way or the other.

And I want to say thank you to Dr. Danning (ph) and to Colonel Cort (ph) for their work that they've done.

And to Judge Eckels (ph), thank you for stepping up and being a real neighbor and a real leader in Harris County to assist on this tragedy. KAGAN: We've been listening in to Governor Perry of Texas. Texas is basically stepping up to the plate to help the neighbors from Louisiana.

As the governor was explaining, 500 buses are going to carry the thousands, tens of thousands of evacuees that have been holed up in Louisiana Superdome and bus them to the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. They will be put up for as long as it seems necessary.

The governor saying that the Astrodome schedule has been cleared through December. This means that the school children who are there, they will be allowed to go to school to public school in Texas. They'll provide transportation. Also, medical services being pulled together to service those people as they come into Houston, Texas.

So that's what the states are talking. He was also talking about coordinating with Florida to help out that state as well.

What about on the federal level, and the White House and President Bush? For that, let's check in with our Bob Franken, who is at the White House today -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Well, it would seem to go without saying that this is an incident of national significance, but that term has significant legal meaning. It was declared such an incident today by the Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, during a video conference call. That means that a 400-plus-page plan can be put into effect involving the different agencies of the federal government, in coordination with states, in coordination with the non-government organizations that take part in this.

The president was on that video conference call before he left Texas. He's coming back to Washington, where he will convene another meeting of the task force later this afternoon.

We're expecting President Bush will have some comments about this situation. As we all know by now, he's cutting short his Crawford, Texas, vacation. His father, during Hurricane Andrew, was criticized by some for not having a significant enough reaction to the hurricane then. This president is making sure that he can cut short any sort of criticism by that.

There's talk that he will be making a trip to the affected area later this week. This is a White House that's always been concerned about being accused of getting in the way, so that coordination is still going on.

Meanwhile, one of the first manifestations of federal involvement is the decision by President Bush and his Energy secretary that there will be an unspecified amount of crude oil released by the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is just there for emergencies. The last time it was used was during Hurricane Ivan a year ago. It's going to be turned over at the request of some refineries. The difficulty is, is that those refineries have been shut down, and it is not clear that they will immediately be able to turn that crude oil into gasoline. We're already seeing a continuing spike of gasoline prices in the Washington area. Several service stations are showing way over $3 a gallon.

There's a prediction that before the Labor Day Weekend, when its heavy driving is over, the norm is going to be about $3.50 a gallon. So that is expected to have a significant effect on the national economy before anything is tamped down. But, of course, the immediate need is the devastating effect that Katrina had on the area of the Gulf of Mexico -- Daryn.

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

Let's go ahead and head back down to the South to searches in Biloxi and other areas of hard-hit parts of Mississippi in the Gulf Coast facing a daunting task. There is just so much debris.

Harrison County's coroner says the search for survivors and those killed by the storm is going to be a very lengthy process.

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GARY HARGROVE, HARRISON COUNTY CORONER: I would say that we are probably about 50 percent that we're not going to be able to get to. And it may take several days, and maybe even weeks to get to, because we are talking about major buildings that may have withstood Camille collapsing as a pancake, what we call pancaking (ph). And if there was an individual in it, it's going to take time to rescue, whether they be alive or dead.

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KAGAN: As we have reported, the unconfirmed death toll in Mississippi right now is at least 110.

Let's go live to Biloxi, Mississippi and our Ted Rowlands, who is standing by amidst much of the rubble -- Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, we have an example of what the coroner was talking about, the pancaking (ph) behind us. And this is being played out across the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Literally structures flattened by Hurricane Camille. And you could see how difficult it is for search and rescue crews to wade through this.

This is expanded over miles and miles of coastline. Some larger cities, like Biloxi, but also in smaller cities and townships along the coast, searching, are they, for potential survivors, and also searching for people that tried to withstand Camille, tried to weather the storm and did not and ended up dying. As you mentioned, the death toll continues to rise here.

People have been trickling in against the advice of authorities to see if their homes have withstood the hurricane. Most folks have come away -- coming into town here in Biloxi, and come away with very bad news, finding out that their homes have been completely destroyed.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I know what it's like to be homeless. But we are not the only ones. And we got out alive. And that's -- that's the main thing.

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ROWLANDS: And again, authorities are asking people not to come back to see the damage yet. There is no electricity. No water here. And really no place to go.

There is such devastation and such destruction that it's a health hazard to have people coming in. And they are asking people to stay away, at least for now -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And so, Ted, as you were saying, even if they come back, even if they have a house, no air-conditioning, no power, and really no place to get supplies like food or water.

ROWLANDS: Exactly. And the odds of their house either standing or functional are pretty low. I mean, a lot of people, like that woman we just saw, came back to find absolutely nothing. A four bedroom house which was leveled.

She now has to go back to where she had escaped originally to get away from the storm. She's going back there until this is all ironed out.

So coming back now really does you absolutely no good. And authorities are hoping that people will withstand the urge of wanting to come and see what assets they have left.

KAGAN: Ted Rowlands, live from Biloxi, Mississippi. Thank you.

A lot of you are looking to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. What the U.S. military is doing to help the devastated areas when we come back.

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KAGAN: With lots of ideas floating around there of how people can help and how businesses can come to help those along the Gulf Coast, you might have heard the idea literally floated out there of, where are the cruise lines? Why don't they bring the giant cruise ships along the coast and let people evacuate to those?

Well, now, Carnival Cruise Line has issued a statement on that very idea, and we're just getting it into us here at CNN, so I'll just go ahead and read it and share it with you.

Carnival Cruise Line states, saying, "We are aware of the suggestion to use cruise ships for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. We have received an initial inquiry from the federal government as to the viability of such a plan. They say to undertake such an endeavor would involve many complicated issues, but hey are actively taking a look at that."

They are "immensely saddened and concerned for the people of the Gulf Coast who have been devastated by the storm. It is our intention to work with federal officials to determine the feasibility of moving a ship into the area if that is their desire."

So Carnival Cruise Line saying a lot more complicated than just moving a ship there, but they are working with federal authorities to figure out if it is indeed possible and get one of their cruise ships along the Gulf Coast.

Also, a lot of efforts coming from the U.S. military. The military part of a massive aid effort that is under way to help storm victims along the central Gulf Coast.

The Navy has ordered four ships to the region. They're packed with water and other supplies.

The latest now from our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, things continuing to move very quickly. More and more information coming to light.

Just in the last few minutes, military officials say that the Defense Department is now working, the military is now working with sate and local officials about the evacuation plan for New Orleans, evacuating those people from the Superdome and other parts of the city. What they may do is send in military helicopters, air lift these people out, get them to ground, and then bus them to other locations. So that is just one of the latest developments.

But the statistics also about the types of aid being assembled show the magnitude of the problem. The same officials saying there are over one million meals ready to eat, those bagged meals that soldiers usually eat on the front lines. Well, those may now be distributed to some of the victims of the hurricane.

As for this flooding, the Army Corps of Engineers working to try and stop it, working to drop some of those super 3,000-pound sandbags into the broken levees. And -- but they tell us that the waterways are clogged with debris, and so they are having problems getting some of their efforts in there.

As you say, warships now under way. The USS Baton, an amphibious warship, is already in the region. They are going to be flying missions, helicopter missions, off their decks. Search and rescue flying in supplies.

Four other ships getting under way today and over the next couple of days from Norfolk, Virginia. They will be in the region over the next few days. The hospital ship, Comfort, the Navy hospital ship that went to the tsunami, it is also expected to deploy out of Baltimore. It will be there, possibly carrying humanitarian relief officials, private officials. Also providing medical capability to the region.

What the Pentagon is now doing, Daryn, is pre-positioning additional equipment, additional supplies close to this new front line. So they will be there ready to go when federal officials ask for it.

One indication, they tell us there are now 50 helicopters pre- positioned at Ft. Hood, Texas, ready to go in and conduct missions if need be. There are also air cushioned ships, special Navy ships that go right up on to destroyed coast lines that will also be able to carry in supplies, help people get out. Expect also to see more air lift, more cargo transport planes moving throughout the area -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon. Barbara, thank you.

Now we want to get an update on some of the tiniest victims of Hurricane Katrina, premature babies that have been in intensive care. They need to be moved. They can't stay in New Orleans any longer.

Those tiny babies now being air lifted to Children's Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham, Alabama. And we have on the phone with us right now a nurse who is helping move those tiny babies, Jason Peterson.

Jason, are you with us?

JASON PETERSON, NURSE: Yes, ma'am.

KAGAN: Tell us about these tiny babies that are being moved, please.

PETERSON: Last night, or yesterday evening, we, in conjunction with the University Hospital of Alabama here in Birmingham, flew down to New Orleans, and we were able to land there at the international airport during daylight hours. And then with the help of Alabama Lifesaver, a helicopter operation here out of Birmingham that also has aircraft in New Orleans, they were able to shuttle us over to Ochsner Hospital, in which we were able to transport four neonatal patients out of there back up to -- those four actually came to University Hospital here in Birmingham.

We are currently -- we're loading up, headed back down there to bring back at least two more neonatal patients. And plans are being put in place to bring patients out of New Orleans Children's Hospital back here to Birmingham as well.

KAGAN: And Jason, just how tiny are these babies that you're moving? And how sick are they?

PETERSON: Last night, the -- the babies were -- two of the four were what we would call extremely premature. They were born at dates earlier than 28 weeks gestation.

Fairly stable last night. Minimal interventions that we had to do. We just had to monitor and make that sure that they had plenty of good stimulation when they didn't want to breathe for us.

But we were able to manage that safely. We got all four of them back without any problems. And we're going back for more. Just doing what we can to help.

KAGAN: And we're talking about babies that are two pounds, less than two pounds?

PETERSON: We had one that was a pretty healthy little fellow. But the others were probably four or five pounds or less.

KAGAN: Wow, little -- little, tiny people. And what kind -- you were saying you have to keep them moving, which I know -- or keep them breathing, which I know is a consideration with premature babies no matter where that they are growing and getting...

PETERSON: Yes. They're just not big fans of the rough environment that we have to put them in. So we have to try and keep them sheltered from the elements and the noise and vibration best we can.

KAGAN: And when -- and how can that hurt a premature baby? Why don't they like those?

PETERSON: Just the stimulation. They all have inborn startle reflexes, and that just causes them to, you know, react in a negative way when they are not in the warm comforts of their parents.

KAGAN: Yes. So four babies so far, two more...

PETERSON: Headed -- headed back for at least two. And the coordinator that are in ops, in our operation center here, are working on setting up, helping the evacuation of New Orleans Children's Hospital.

KAGAN: And when you move them, are you able to take mom or dad with the baby?

PETERSON: No, ma'am.

KAGAN: Or does the baby have to go by themselves?

PETERSON: The babies are having to go by themselves.

KAGAN: Wow.

PETERSON: Yes. And I tell you, my heart truly bleeds for the staff at Ochsner. They're a tremendous group of nurses in that nursery. And they have been drug through (INAUDIBLE) backwards.

They are having a hard time. So everybody needs to keep them in their prayers. KAGAN: Well, they are doing important work. You are too, as well. And we wish you well as you go back and try to rescue two more premature babies.

Once again, that's Jason Peterson, a nurse who is transporting these tiny newborn premature babies from New Orleans, from Louisiana, and bringing them to Children's Hospital and University Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. Such important, important work.

Away from home, no place to go. The flooding and devastation have left many people, including students at Tulane University in New Orleans, with no place to stay. Where are they going to seek shelter? We have an answer for you straight ahead.

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