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CNN Sunday Morning
Assessing Hurricane Rita
Aired September 25, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The coast is clear in Texas and Louisiana, at least in the skies. On the ground, however, a much different story.
Good morning. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien, reporting live from Houston, Texas.
WHITFIELD: Back with you in a moment, Miles. But first a damage assessment from Hurricane Rita. So far, no deaths in any affected state has been directly attributed to Hurricane Rita.
Flooding, however, is very widespread. Heavy rain will make it worse. In Louisiana's Vermilion Parish floodwaters are nine feet deep in some places. Search and rescue teams will use boats and helicopters today to look for people who did not evacuate.
At least 2.5 million people heeded the orders to leave their homes ahead of the storms. Now thousands are streaming back home, against the pleas of state and local officials. More than 1 million customers are without electricity in Louisiana and Texas and Mississippi. Outages are due to Hurricane Rita as well as those remaining from Katrina.
Work has already started to get oil refineries in Port Arthur, Texas, back online. It appears that refining facilities in the Houston area escaped major damage. Refineries in both areas shut down before Rita struck.
Back to you, Miles, where power is sporadic in areas around Houston.
O'BRIEN: Yes, it is sporadic. As it stands right now, we just heard a report from the major utility here, Fred; 350,000 customers, which equates to certainly more people, customers, without power this morning. But when you consider this is the fourth largest city in America, that's a good percentage of people with power this morning.
I'm sitting on the guardrail here, Interstate 45. This is southbound traffic. These would be people who would have probably evacuated as far away as Dallas. You remember, of course, Interstate 45, 20 miles north of here on Friday, that horrific bus explosion. Elderly folks trying to evacuate in the midst of that terrible gridlock, 15, 20-hour traffic jams, an explosion on a bus fueled by oxygen. As it stands right now, those are the only deaths you can associate with Hurricane Rita.
Of course the rescue and recovery efforts continue and the search efforts continue in parts of southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana this morning. The story here today is the return, 2.5 million people left here, and left here in a rather chaotic fashion over Thursday and Friday. The question, is can they return in a more phased and orderly way?
Take a look at some of the traffic we've seen this morning. These are Department of Transportation traffic cameras. Not live pictures, we captured these a few moments ago. Interstate 45 towards Galveston; Galveston, of course as you know, 90 percent of the people there evacuated. Galveston did not get direct hit that everyone feared, and now people would like to get home and see their homes. It's a natural inclination. They'd like to secure their homes. They just want to get home.
But if everybody did that at once, you would have a repeat of what happened Thursday and Friday. What they are trying to do here is do a phased return, setting up the city into quadrants. Today the northwestern quadrant. Tomorrow, Monday, southwestern. On Tuesday, the northeastern quadrant, and then to be determined, the southeastern quadrant of the city, including Pasadena and the parts of Galveston Bay.
Lots is up in the air. There are no fines, no arrests if people want to return to their home. It's a voluntary program. Will people comply? One of the big issues that will be on their mind? Is their place secure? Weighed against that, Fred, is the possibility they can end up in yet another horrific traffic jam like they did on Thursday and Friday. We'll be watching that today in Houston, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Nobody wants a repeat of that. Thanks a lot, Miles.
The eastern edge of a hurricane is usually known as the dirty side. That's where the winds are strongest and the damage is typically the most severe. Lake Charles, Louisiana, and a lot of smaller towns in the area were on Rita's dirty side. CNN's Jason Carroll has been out assessing the situation in Lake Charles and joins with us now with a live update.
Jason, what are you seeing?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka.
Take a look right down here. This will explain a lot of what's happening out here this morning. It may be tough to tell, but this is actually the water line from Lake Charles yesterday. The lake was so swollen the water came up to here. Today, you look out, things pretty much looking almost back to normal in terms of what the lake normally looks like.
You can see those pylons, there, obviously could not see those yesterday. Today a far cry from what we saw all day Sunday and Saturday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice over): Several hours after Hurricane Rita's eye wall passed Lake Charles, Louisiana, a powerful force was still being felt.
Lake Charles waters rose several feet throughout the day, causing flooding downtown and in other areas. The surge battering anchored casino riverboats. At its peak, wind gusts topping 100 miles per hour, blew out windows, and knocked out power. Michael Reinaver was at home with his generator by his side.
MICHAEL REINAVER, LAKE CHARLES RESIDENT: Hell of a morning.
CARROLL (on camera): Oh, yeah. How did you fare last night?
REINAVER: I'm good. Freight train, freight train, all night long. You could hear the house creaking and feel like it's being pressed by the wind, but I think we're the lucky ones. I think we are extremely lucky. I suspect people south of town who have newer homes are going to be in a lot of trouble.
CARROLL: We're in an area 20 minutes south of downtown Lake Charles. You can see what type of damage we're seeing here, can't even tell what this business was. And back over this way, an apartment building, it also sustained heavy damage. Across the street, this is McNeese State University, their athletic field, also was badly damaged from Hurricane Rita.
(voice over): The main building and surrounding buildings at Lake Charles Regional Airport also battered by the storm. The terminals roof partially collapsed.
ALAN KRATVER, AIRPORT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Horrible. It's horrible. This is a bunker building, but I'm going to tell you right now, it was rough.
CARROLL: Alan Kratver was here the whole time. He believes the hurricane alone could not have done this.
KRATVER: That took tornadoes, is what happened. Yes.
CARROLL (on camera): You think so?
KRATVER: I have to agree. When you look at the terminal building you'll know it's tornadoes.
CARROLL (voice over): There were tornado warnings in parts of Louisiana at the time. And now, streets remain blocked by downed trees, power lines and floodwaters. And police are asking all those who evacuated to stay away, at least until Monday.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Behind me, there, in the distance are the casino riverboats. Normally they would be lit up at this hour, but not now. There is no power in the entire area, no water as well. Emergency crews are in the process of trying to work with the water plant system to try get that back and up and running, try to improve the sanitary conditions.
The day shift has already started for the emergency crews. They're already out in the field and what they're basically going to be doing is running that assessment, trying to check and see how bad the damage is.
The Lake Charles police department tells me this morning they're being inundated with calls from people trying to reach loved ones and unable to get in touch with them. What they're doing is they're making a long master list; and what they're going to try and do is go over that check list, go door to door for each person on that list to find make contact with them, try and make sure they're OK -- Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Jason, what about the roads? Are many of them passable as you have the search and rescue teams, or even the power crews you were talking about trying to restore power. How are they going to be able to get around?
CARROLL: As we came in this morning -- it's definitely going to be difficult. Let me say that first off. It's going to be tough. There's still a lot of downed power lines, downed trees as well. Fredricka, as we came in this morning into downtown, we already noticed that there are ways to get in, far different from what we saw yesterday. They've made a lot of headway in terms of clearing some of the roads. Some of the roads still not safe enough though for most people to get back into the area.
WHITFIELD: Jason Carroll in Lake Charles, thanks so much.
Lots of challenges ahead, where you are, Jason, as well as where you are, Miles, in Houston.
O'BRIEN: Yes, the story here today is not one of rescue and recovery. It's one of return. And will it be an orderly one? We're watching the traffic closely, as 2.5 million people make their way -- or potentially -- make their way back home, the officials here would like it to be a nice, phased orderly progression.
So far we've seen a lot of traffic bottlenecks, which would lead us to believe the otherwise.
Now, let's move eastward, shall we? Go 220 miles from where I sit, about 100 miles east of where Jason Carroll is, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, right in the heart of Cajun Country, Lafayette, Louisiana area. In Vermilion Parish, there is a little town called Abbeville, a picturesque little town that really got slammed by Hurricane Rita.
Even this morning there's rescue and search operation that is under way. CNN's Ed Lavandera is there, he joins us with an update from there.
Good morning, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles. Well, this town is the center of the hub of activity where all of the search and rescue missions will be deployed from. Here on this tarmac, where I'm standing, you might see one of the Army helicopters that will be taking off in a little while to begin, and resume, the search and rescue mission.
They had gone on well into the night. Pilots were using GPS systems, tracking down where emergency calls had come from. But no one was rescued. Officials here tell us about 250 people were rescued from their homes yesterday, but it's still unknown how many more people need to be rescued, or found dead, quite frankly. Those people trapped in nine to 10 feet of floodwaters. It's unclear how many people might still be out there; officials fear 100.
We want to show you this incredible home video taken by one man in this Vermilion Parish area. To get a sense of what it must be like to be inside one of these homes when floodwaters rise quickly.
The man who give us this video says he woke up yesterday morning and stepped outside to check out the weather. When he stepped outside, he said it looked like his front yard was just moving. In a matter of hours the water had gone up to his windows, cascading into his house. You see the refrigerator floating, chairs, every item in the house floating in water.
To get out -- the water continued to rise about nine, ten feet. The man crawled into his attic with a shotgun, fired three shots into the roof. And then he used that to crawl out onto the top of his roof and later he was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Not all of these stories are as harrowing as this, some much more disturbing, family of three, a woman and her three children who refused to evacuate one town and officials here now fear the entire family might be dead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF MIKE COUVILLION, VERMILION PARISH, LOUISIANA: The deputy begged the woman to let the three children leave with them. She advised no. This morning, she called.
We attempted to rescue her, we couldn't get there by boat. The water was too rough. The current was traveling too fast. The water was rising too fast. We couldn't get in. We finally got helicopters in, we sent the helicopters to look for them. We can't find even find the trailer anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: That is a disturbing story. And search and rescue missions will resume now that the sun is starting to come out. These teams will be going by air and by water here again shortly -- Miles?
O'BRIEN: CNN's Ed Lavandera, that's quite a tale, a shotgun blast to the roof and on to safety they went. Fred?
WHITFIELD: All right, Miles, thanks so much.
There with the look of daybreak taking place, Texas leaders all over will begin assessing Rita's damage. They'll do that today and in the days to come. Congressman Kevin Brady joins us now, by phone, with the latest conditions where he is. He represents the Eighth District of Texas, which includes northern suburbs of Houston to the Louisiana state line.
Congressman, what are you anticipating the greatest needs to be in your district?
REP. KEVIN BRADY (R), TEXAS: Our district in east Texas took the brunt of the storm. It went right up through all of that timber country just like a linebacker. It has done a great deal of damage. Right now, most of our counties are without power. Some without their central water and sewer stations.
Food is a big issue -- and here is an untold story. Many of these are the counties immediately adjacent to Louisiana, especially Orange County, Newton, Jasper, they took in thousands and thousands of evacuees from Katrina, willingly opened their homes and churches and their hearts.
Then, when they evacuated Houston and the Gulf Coast, many of those people went up into east Texas, and so they lost -- didn't have fuel. And again, these communities opened shelters in their homes for them.
Then the hurricane shifted and went right up those same counties, and so they had to evacuate their own residences. And they have really, in the last four weeks -- and then yesterday, when the Trinity River was flooded to released pressure on Lake Livingston, they evacuated a fourth time. So many of these counties, small rural -- huge hearts, great people -- have really taken a big hit these last four weeks.
WHITFIELD: What are your concerns as many so many people venture back onto 45, to head back to kind of their original points of interest, further clogging the roads?
BRADY: Well, you know, we've got -- we do have near where I live, I-45 was very, very steady traffic yesterday. Haven't seen it this morning. The sun just came up, but I imagine it's going to be very heavy. The real challenge is that, because east Texas is so heavily timbered, we've got -- I saw huge trees, with power lines, all down on every road. We had to weave our way in and out just to move a few counties.
WHITFIELD: Yes, and making that dangerous, a lot of those downed power lines still live.
BRADY: Yes, and it's really rough. It is making it hard for communities to get around at all, plus we've just got, in Orange County, you know, they advise residents not to come back for two weeks. They were particularly hard-hit, so we've got basic fuel, power, food and water, and restoring our infrastructure, those are like in Katrina, our main priorities.
WHITFIELD: Congressman Kevin Brady of the Eighth District there in Texas. Thanks so much for joining us.
BRADY: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Best wishes on the recovery efforts.
BRADY: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well, it was right in the bull's eye of Hurricane Rita, but there could be some good news out there for Port Arthur, Louisiana. Oil refineries there likely spared and likely saving you money. That story coming up next -- of Texas, rather.
Later the damage from Rita may have been minimal but FEMA wants to make sure its response is anything but. The lessons learned at the federal level. That's coming up later.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, live from Houston, Texas, northern outskirts along Interstate 45, where we're watching the return of the people to the city of Houston post-Rita; 100 miles to the east of me is the town of Port Arthur, Texas. It's an oil town just south of Beaumont, on the western shore of a Sabine Lake. About 58,000 people there.
The authorities, that is to say, the city manager, the mayor, the fire department, the police department, all evacuated Port Arthur in advance of Rita. They went to a town called Lumberton, about 50 miles inland. So did about 90 percent of the people there. There was great concern that Rita would cause New Orleans-style flooding and problems in the city of Port Arthur.
But in the end, Rita moved a little bit to the right, a little bit to the east. Port Arthur was on the less -- or on the more forgiving side of Rita. And as a result, while there is flooding, the worst fears of those city fathers were not realized. CNN's Gary Tuchman is in Port Arthur this morning where there is still three, three, four, and five feet of water in various places.
Gary, how is it going?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're on U.S. 69 in Port Arthur. In front of us is Beaumont, about 15 miles away, behind us the Gulf of Mexico. And as you said, there has been some flooding here, but it is nothing like they thought it would be.
When you first come here, on U.S. 69, this is the major road that takes you through the town. You see this water and you think, my gosh, there is tremendous flooding in the town. Indeed, you can't get downtown because this is the main road. You see the car behind me there but the flood something sporadic. That's the good news.
As Miles said, the fear was that this town, and they weren't trying to give the people hyperbole. They were saying that if this hurricane, at its power, came in at a direct hit or just to the west they'd end up with 20 feet of water, not just submerging the area next to the Sabine Lake and the Gulf of Mexico, but the whole town of 58,000 people. Well, it didn't happen.
Yesterday, during the daylight hours, sun just came up. We wanted to get some good shots yesterday, to give you an idea. There is plenty of damage here, no question about it, damage from houses, roofs blown off, lots of windows gone.
The downtown area behind me, which we were able to get into through a special police detour, right now it is a ghost town, but there not allowing people back. But there is lots of damage. But it is nothing like they thought it would be.
The levee here, a 14-foot sea wall was not breached. The flooding that we've seen sporadically throughout the city is strictly from rainwater. The police station has been ruined from water, too. So the police are actually now headquartered at the only hotel in town that's open, a Holiday Inn.
A very interesting, eclectic mixture of people at the hotel. You have police. You have some people who sought the hotel as shelter, and there are not enough rooms. So a lot of them are in the hallways sleeping. You have members of the news media. And you also have alleged looters, who have been arrested, a makeshift jail has been set up in the bar area. Miles, back to you.
O'BRIEN: I got to tell you, Gary, that must make for some very interesting cocktail hours at that bar.
TUCHMAN: No question about it, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, Gary Tuchman, he will have stories to tell when he returns, and we will look forward to hearing those. Back to you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Thanks a lot, Miles.
Rita is no longer a hurricane but it is a tropical depression, and still holding a lot of water to be dumped on other parts of the country. Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras in the Weather Center -- Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Fredricka, yes. A tropical depression, 20 to 30 miles per hour winds can be expected. And as some of the squall lines move through, associated with Rita, that is going to bring gusts a lot stronger than that. We also have some severe weather to talk about it with it, too. And it is moving into the Memphis area, and this will include downtown Memphis.
We have revere thunderstorm warnings, which are in effect for Crittendon, Desoto, Tate and Shelby Counties. Up to 70 mile per hour winds with these squall lines. So, you want to stay indoors right now. Wait until this storm passes in Memphis before you head outside. Threat of tornadoes, too. We've had a couple of warnings in Mississippi today, but no ground truth at this time. Be aware of that threat throughout the rest of the morning into the afternoon. And yes, even into the evening hours.
Rainfall amounts are going to be down a little bit today, because Rita has picked up some forward speed. It is moving to the north and east at 20 miles per hour. Our worst fears about inland flooding are not necessarily going to come true as the storm will be moving faster. The red area where we expect the greatest threat of severe thunderstorms associated with Rita. And there is also a strong cold front coming from the north.
The other thing we have to contend with along the Gulf Coast is oppressive heat, once again today, upper 90s for high temperatures with the heat index well into the triple digits. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Jacqui.
There are other stories that we're reporting for you this morning. President Bush wasn't there but he had some visitors in Washington yesterday, nearly 100,000 of them. Why they were there and what their message was all about, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: President Bush's attention may be on hurricane damage right now but this weekend, thousands of pro and anti-war supporters are in Washington. The streets will be crowded again today. CNN's Asieh Namdar has more.
ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tens of thousands of anti-war protesters gathered in Washington, calling for U.S. troops to be brought home from Iraq. The demonstrators marched by the White House, but the president was out of town, his attention on Hurricane Rita's damage to the Gulf Coast.
Among the voices against the war Cindy Sheehan, whose son, Casey, was killed fighting in Iraq. Sheehan is an activist who camped out in the president's hometown of Crawford, Texas, while he was there on a working vacation during the month of August. She called on Americans to speak up, if they opposed the war.
CINDY SHEEHAN, WAR PROTESTER: People who oppose this war. My good friends in the media are doing their jobs?
CROWD: No!
SHEEHAN: Most of our friends in Congress aren't doing their jobs?
CROWD: No!
SHEEHAN: George Bush certainly isn't doing his job.
NAMDAR: There were other politicians, activists, and mothers of the soldiers supporting Sheehan and the anti-war effort. And Ann Roesler of Military Families Speak Out, has a son serving in Iraq. She says this is his third deployment to the war zone.
ANN ROESLER, SON SERVING IN IRAQ: It's so time to bring our troops home. Many, many of them don't want to be there, and they are desperate to come home, and they want us to speak out. They cannot speak out because when they wear the uniform, their voices are silenced.
NAMDAR: Now meet another mother who sees things differently. Deb Meyer's step-son, Jason, was killed in the war. She and also has a second son that's scheduled to be deployed to Baghdad in April, and a third, who plans to join the military when he graduates from high school.
Mrs. Meyer says the anti-war protests were counter productive for troops.
DEB MEYER, STEPSON KILLED IN IRAQ: They don't need to hear this negative stuff, that there's nothing in this country worth fighting for. They need to hear that we support them, that we appreciate them. That we're so glad that they've volunteered to go and do what they're doing.
NAMDAR: She was among those supporting the Bush administration Saturday. A few hundred demonstrators gathered in Washington to show their stand by the president.
CINDY MCGUIRE, SUPPORTS BUSH ADMIN.: We support what they're doing. We support our troops. I support the mission of trying to stand up against global terrorism.
NAMDAR: Asieh Namdar, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: He said he's pleased with the federal response this time around, but President Bush cautions destruction and casualties from Rita could still mount. He's on the road again today. We'll tell you where, next.
And they avoided another hit, but not another hurricane. New Orleans under water again. When can residents return home? Stay with CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now. Rita is now a tropical depression, and it's heading north. Searchers will be out today in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, where some people may still be stranded by floodwaters. The water was 9 feet deep in some places in that area.
President Bush wraps up a three-day swing in the hurricane zone today. He'll get more briefings in San Antonio, Texas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana before heading back to Washington. The president says the government's response to Rita has been well-organized and well prepared.
It's too early to know the impact Rita will have on the Gulf Coast refineries or on fuel prices as of yet, but at least one analyst says the nation will probably avoid what he calls a doomsday scenario of gasoline soaring to $5 a gallon.
And violence throughout Baghdad this morning. Four people were killed in a bomb attack south of the capital, in the city of Hillah. Police say a bicycle strapped with explosives blew up in a crowded vegetable market. Forty-eight people were wounded.
Also, Iraqi police say 10 militiamen were killed in clashes with U.S. forces in Baghdad.
Good morning again. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien, live from the northern rim of Houston, Texas, along Interstate 45, where so far, traffic is OK.
On this first official day of "you're allowed to come home, Houston" day, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are the three days set aside for people here to come back, it is hoped, in a more orderly way than they left on Thursday and Friday, that horrific traffic jam of 15 to 20-hour length in some cases as everybody tried to leave at one time.
Today, the northwestern quadrant in the city is good to go. Tomorrow, Monday, the southwestern quadrant and then on Tuesday, northeast. Southeast remains a question mark right now, but the real question mark is, will Houstonians comply? Will they voluntarily hang back? There are no penalties, no arrests that are promised by the officials, and the lure of home is here.
School systems will not be opening their doors tomorrow, so the parents don't feel obligated to get back in time. Many businesses are shut down as well, and will give their employees a wide degree of latitude.
The mayor, the governor, even the president has urged people some patience here before they come back.
Having said all of that, Rita was very forgiving to the city of Houston, Texas. Some windows broken downtown, some isolated pockets of flooding, some power outages. About 350,000 customers without power this morning.
But let's talk about what's happening about 120, 130 miles from here, Lake Charles, Louisiana. Sanjay Gupta with me now. We were both there yesterday. That was a part of the world, southwestern Louisiana, that really took more of the brunt of this storm. The unforgiving side of Rita, the dirty side is the term meteorologists use, and Sanjay spent a little bit of time with not only the hospitals there, but also with the mayor of the town -- Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you know, it was interesting, you know, so many reporters, you're in this small area, you are getting a sense of what's going on all around you, in particular, but it's harder to get a sense of the entire town. So as soon as first light broke, we traveled around with the mayor to see what the consequence of all that noise really was.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDY ROACH, MAYOR, LAKE CHARLES: Preliminary survey of neighborhoods...
GUPTA (voice-over): Mayor Randy Roach has called Lake Charles home his entire life.
ROACH: The lake has risen higher than I've ever seen it before in my lifetime.
GUPTA: Saturday, Lake Charles was ground zero.
ROACH: You're seeing a lot of damage caused by downed power lines, broken telephone lines -- telephone poles, a lot of wind damage to trees. And when the trees fall, they take everything with it.
And there's several roads in town right now that are impassable.
GUPTA: When the storm came through, truth is from the hospital complex, we could hear the roar of the wind and see the deluge of rain. But it was only at first light that we saw the aftermath of Rita's fury.
City councilman Stuart Weatherford has also lived here all of his 41 years.
STUART WEATHERFORD, LAKE CHARLES COUNCILMAN: This is Lake Charles. Actually, this is as high as I've ever seen it, as far as the eye can see is our boat -- houses under the water.
GUPTA (on camera): The mayor invited us to go in the back of his truck to see some of this damage with him, as he's seeing it for the first time. Most critical, obviously, to everybody was what happened to Lake Charles. Here's the lake. You see it over here. A lot of the flooding that has occurred in this city actually because the lake -- the levels rose high, flooding the streets all around it. You're seeing some of this damage through the mayor's eyes, as he sees it for the first time.
His biggest goal right now is to see that the mandatory evacuation did work. Now a mandatory curfew as well, 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. The damage not as bad as a lot of people thought it might have been, but still an extremely dangerous place. Downed power lines, lots of water. They don't mix well.
ROACH: That's the primary thing that we're concerned with is results. The results is, is that we got everyone's attention. Everyone who wanted to get out got out.
GUPTA (voice-over): Making it a successful, very successful night. In fact, according to the mayor, not a single death and very few injuries.
For sure, Krista St. Patrick Hospital is staying open, standing by now for the injuries that may occur during clean-up. Chainsaw injuries are a known threat after hurricanes.
If necessary, doctors here will even perform operations on emergency generator power, as they did last night.
But Mayor Randy Roach is on the move in his pick-up truck, checking in on his citizens.
ROACH: I think everything that we needed to do got done.
GUPTA: A clear indicator that being prepared paid off in this southwest Louisiana community.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: A very small town, about 75,000 population. Interesting, most of the injuries probably will occur in the next couple of days. The hospital will be much busier after the hurricane than during. People will clean up, they will have the chainsaw injuries and other injuries just from getting life back to order again.
O'BRIEN: You know, it's interesting, Sanjay, when you talk about the chainsaw injuries, it reminds me of the injuries we saw on Interstate 45 here, 24 who were killed in that bus crash. How do you define what are casualties as a result of a storm? It's kind of a gray area there.
GUPTA: Yeah, and you know, the same thing happens in hospitals around an operation. What's exactly an operation? Is that mortality due to the operation or not? Everything is associated with it. So the evacuation, through the storm, the few days after and the cleanup are all associated with the storm, from a hospital perspective.
O'BRIEN: All right, Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much, along the noisy banks of Interstate 45 here. Appreciate that.
Back to you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Noisy, but at least for now, it looks like the traffic is flowing pretty smoothly. Thanks a lot, Miles and Sanjay.
Well, FEMA is coordinating food, water and rescue efforts this morning in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita. The agency says 17 urban search and rescue teams are already in Texas, and another 400 rescuers are stationed in Louisiana. CNN's Gary Nurenberg joins us now from FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C. with an update. Are they pleased with their response?
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They seem to be so far, Fredricka. You talked about the 17 to 28 -- pardon me, 17 of the 28 deployment teams, or search and rescue teams have been deployed.
The others now are on standby, waiting to be sent to the areas where the first responders told them they're most badly needed. Four of those teams, as you said, are in Louisiana, and right now, FEMA is waiting to hear back from the first responders on those teams to find out what kind of backup and what kind of support they need.
We have 10 of these DMAT teams that have so far been sent to areas where they're needed. DMAT, the disaster emergency medical teams. Two of them set up and operating now in Houston, three en route to Beaumont. Others standing by to be deployed to the areas where they'll be needed.
There's a federal staging area at the Houston Astrodome. That's essentially where the feds are getting together for a distribution point, everything to get out of there quickly when they find out where the materials are needed, where the personnel are needed. That's where much of the FEMA activity is taking place this morning.
They have got 150 shelters up and waiting in case the need for those arises, but at this point, it doesn't look like that will be completely necessary.
The most important information that FEMA says it wants to get out this morning is this phone number for disaster assistance -- 1-800- 621-FEMA, 1-800-621-FEMA. Officials here at FEMA are adamant in letting us know that they want the number out there so that people can call and find out what kind of disaster assistance is available to them.
There's a big meeting taking place right now in the staging area to find out where the needs will be for the rest of the day, and Fredricka, when the reports come in from that, we'll pass them on to you right away.
WHITFIELD: All right, Gary Nurenberg, thanks so much, from Washington D.C.
And President Bush said that he's pleased with FEMA's preparedness. And today, in fact, he will go to Louisiana to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Rita himself. But before he heads out, he'll attend two events in San Antonio, Texas. CNN's Elaine Quijano is there, and she joins us now with an update. And Elaine, what are these events?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't have a clear picture just yet on exactly what the president's going to be doing today, Fredricka. But we know that first up for the president here in San Antonio will be a briefing, and that is with the head of the joint task force for Hurricane Rita, Lieutenant General Robert Clark.
Now, the rest of the schedule still very much influx, as far as we know, no public details yet. But this is really today the latest in a series of events for the president, over the past couple of days, designed to show that there is a strong government response, and also that the president, of course, is actively engaged.
Now, before he arrived here in San Antonio last night, the president visited the Texas emergency operations center. Of course, the message there, that federal, state and local officials are all working together and that the president cares.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First of all, the people in the state are counting on you, and I know you're working hard, and I appreciate the response. It's -- nobody asks for these things, but when they come, we have a duty.
I'm really here to let the folks in Texas know that the federal government knows we have a responsibility to support you in the mission of saving lives first and foremost, and then helping rebuild their lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: And while the president's events this weekend are ostensibly focused on Rita, it is clearly the political damage from Hurricane Katrina the White House is trying to undo. After the events here today in San Antonio, the president will be moving on to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is expected to return to Washington later today -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano, thanks so much, traveling with the president.
Well, it could take up to three weeks to redrain New Orleans, but the mayor wants some residents back even sooner. Is it too soon? A live report from New Orleans next.
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WHITFIELD: Here's the problem, once again in New Orleans, where, for the second time in as many hurricanes, floodwaters have enveloped parts of the Crescent City. CNN's Mary Snow joins us now from New Orleans with the latest on the efforts there to try to get some of that water out -- Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka. And, you know, we're on a bridge overlooking the Industrial Canal, and the Industrial Canal levee is right behind me. And this is where water overtopped a damaged section of that levee, damaged by Hurricane Katrina. When it started raining on Friday, water was pouring over into that lower 9th Ward you see behind me, and you can see the floodwaters near the watermarks left by Katrina.
There is a positive sign, though, this morning. The water is not flowing into the lower 9th Ward any longer. The Army Corps of Engineers reporting this morning that water has receded more than 4 feet.
What they have been doing is having military helicopters dropping huge sandbags, weighing anywhere from 3,000 to 7,000 pounds, to try to shore up that damaged part of the levee, and they're expected to resume that operation shortly.
Then comes the pumping. Engineers expect to start pumping the water out later this week. Pumping stations here are out of commission, and they expect that it will take one week to clear all the water out.
This is an area that had been absolutely devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
Also, another section of this levee that had been damaged, water overtopping there. Crews on the ground are looking to shore that up.
Now, yesterday, Mayor Ray Nagin said that, because some of the other levees were holding up, he's going to be monitoring the progress here, and he says he would like to start his plan to get people back into New Orleans as early as tomorrow.
The first phase of it would include business owners being allowed back into the city. This had already started. It was put on hold when Rita started moving in. And also residents of the Algiers section -- this is the section that was hit, did not receive too much damage from Hurricane Katrina.
So he says it's going to be monitoring, it could happen as early as tomorrow, perhaps Tuesday. But he's also telling people that the elderly and families with children should not be coming back immediately -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Mary Snow in New Orleans, thanks so much.
Be sure to join us at 11:00 Eastern this morning, for more on New Orleans. "LATE EDITION" will feature Vice Admiral Thad Allen, the man in charge of the federal relief effort. That's a special time for "LATE EDITION," 11:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
Let's check in once again with Jacqui Jeras on the weather conditions, the aftermath of Rita, now a depression.
JERAS: Yes, a tropical depression becoming extra-tropical today. The center of circulation somewhere around central Arkansas. But you can see all of the action well ahead on the east side of this storm system.
It's still bringing in some pretty good rainfall and also some pretty strong thunderstorms. They have been rumbling through the Memphis area here, over the last half an hour or so. The severe thunderstorm warning just expired, but now you can see flash flood warnings have taken their place, so some torrential downpours with these, should see improving conditions about 15 to 30 minutes from now.
Additional rain amounts across much of the Tennessee Valley is going to be anywhere between 2 and 4 inches, but nothing compared to what parts of Louisiana and Texas have already seen. More than a foot of rain in a few locations. New Orleans itself -- these are storm totals so not just the last 24 hours -- New Orleans had just over 6 inches of rain falling.
Here's some numbers for you. In Texas, Beaumont had about 8.5 inches, and Cleveland had approximately 3.5.
Storm system has been moved very rapidly up to the north and to the east, and this has been some great news. It's really picked up some forward speed, moving at 20 miles per hour now, and so that is really going to reduce some of the inland flooding that we've been so concerned about across the ArkLaTex region. It's been kind of fighting between two weather systems, which one's going to be steering it, and the good news is the storm system across the upper Midwest is picking up a little bit of forward speed, and that is helping to steer the storm towards the Tennessee and Ohio River valleys.
Still, that severe weather threat, along with tornadoes, expected ahead of this system, and it is going to become extra-tropical later on today, and eventually just kind of petering out.
Heat will remain an issue over the damaged areas. Temperatures in the mid- to upper 90s, but feeling like 100 degrees plus -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Jacqui.
Well, other news across America this Sunday morning. Authorities in Orlando, Florida, say a University of Central Florida police officer was shot and killed before a football game. Police say the UCF officer was working in plain clothes when he was shot by an Orlando city officer. Other details are being withheld right now pending an investigation.
It's a weekend of protests and counter-protests in Washington. An estimated 100,000 war opponents surged past the White House Saturday. The anti-war rally stretched into the night. Meantime, organizers of a pro-military rally today hope to draw 10,000 people.
Vice President Dick Cheney may be in the hospital a bit longer than he thought. Yesterday, doctors repaired aneurysms in the arteries on the backs of both knees. The procedure took six hours. Doctors say there were no complications.
Up next this morning, a highway tour after a hurricane strike, certainly not a sight for sore eyes. One CNN reporter's tour of the devastation left in Rita's wake, coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTY FEIG, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Navy hospital ship could soon provide some relief to New Orleans as a floating treatment center. Officials with the badly damaged Charity Hospital are discussing plans with the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to dock the USNS Comfort in the port of New Orleans, to take the place of their own facility, which was flooded following Hurricane Katrina. The plan is up for approval.
And the life-expanding drug for AIDS patients, AZT, can cost them as much as $7 per pill. But those costs could soon be reduced. Drug patents have long prevented the sale of generic AZT in the U.S., but those have now expired, and the FDA has approved the generics, which are in current use throughout the world.
Christy Feig, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back live from the northern outskirts of Houston, Texas today. Southbound lanes of Interstate 45 over my left shoulder here. Traffic is moving well, but right now, it's five of 8:00 Central Time, local time here, on a Sunday morning, and even though Houston is notorious for its bad traffic, I would venture to say this is a little heavier than normal here. It has picked up as far as its density over the past hour or so.
This part of Houston, the northwest quadrant, is allowed to come home today under a voluntary phased re-entry plan. Over the next couple of days, that is what city officials, state and even the president would like Houstonians to do. And it would be interesting to see if the voluntary program alleviates the problems that occurred here on Thursday and Friday, when everybody tried to leave at once, some 2.5 million people.
Of course, another focus of attention today will be Interstate 10, which was an evacuation departure point to the west and to the east, became a real focus of attention in the wake of Rita, how much damage was caused to it. It's a main thoroughfare, a main transportation spine for the Gulf region. Interstate 10 goes from here all the way to Jacksonville, and through such cities as New Orleans, Gulfport and Biloxi. And thus, these storms have hard-hit that interstate.
CNN's Chris Lawrence took a ride from Baytown, Texas, which is just outside of Houston, all the way in to Lake Charles, and got an assessment of the damage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We started driving east out of Baytown, Texas, and almost immediately started seeing damage along Interstate 10. It looked like Hurricane Rita came right over the main east/west connection between Texas and Louisiana.
(on camera): We got off the highway here at Beaumont to knock on a few doors, see how the neighbors are doing, but it seems as if most folks got out early. Good thing, too. When you take a look at some of the damage here, I mean, it's hard to believe what it would be like to be inside when that thing comes down on top of your home.
In some areas, we saw a lot of wind damage. In others, it was the flooding, like here with this trailer park in Bider (ph), Texas, where the water is coming up just about knee-high just about everywhere we walk.
(voice-over): That doesn't matter much when it comes to saving fuel and supplies for the next few days. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I got back, even though it looks devastating, we're in real good shape from what I thought it might have been.
LAWRENCE (on camera): So some folks were making their way in, trying to get a first look at their property. But we met other people who actually stuck it out during the storm.
CHRISTINA RUBERO, RESIDENT: My mother was being stubborn and wanted to stay, and I sent my son off and stayed with her, because I didn't want to leave her alone.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Christina Rubero took us through her apartment complex in Bider (ph).
RUBERO: We're walking on the side wall with the roof right there. They just opened like a can of spam.
I was under a mattress saying, we're going to die, we need to take shelter. We were trying to call the police station, no answer, all night. No answer.
This is downstairs. Water just started streaming in through my apartment, just started flying off, water started pouring in. There was at least ankle-foot water.
This is downstairs. Imagine what upstairs looks like.
LAWRENCE: As we drove further east, there was a church smashed in from the top down, debris hanging from an overpass, and an overturned truck that flipped over on the side of the highway.
When we got to Lake Charles, it just got worse. Entire neighborhoods cut off by trees, power lines, a lot of them close to being completely flooded.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Lake Charles, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That's about it for this hour. In our next hour of CNN SUNDAY, we will take you to Abbeville and Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, perhaps the hardest-hit spot in the wake of Hurricane Rita. We'll check in with CNN's Ed Lavandera, where the floodwaters are as much as 9 feet. Stay with us.
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