Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
Hurricane Katrina: The Aftermath
Aired September 10, 2005 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WHITFIELD: Vice President Dick Cheney is visiting Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Austin, Texas, today. Hundreds are taking shelter at the city's convention center. Cheney's visit comes on the eve of President Bush's return to the disaster area. We'll have a live report on their efforts in the wake of the hurricane in a few minutes.
VERJEE: A staggering 205,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees are in Texas, but the Red Cross says the storm displaced more than 377,000 people in all. They're in shelters, hotels, homes and other housing in 33 states and the District of Columbia.
WHITFIELD: And in part, some good news: New Orleans my may be dryer sooner than expected. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says draining the flood waters from the city should be done next month. It previously estimated the job would take almost three months, but dryer weather and other factors, such as so many pumps, are speeding up the process.
Hello again, I'm Fredericka Whitfield.
And I'm Zain Verjee. Welcome to a special edition of CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
Our coverage begins in New Orleans. Many people still remain in the city, undaunted by the filthy water, the destruction around them and the determination of troops to get them out. Well, authorities have now shifted their focus to gathering and counting the dead. CNN's Dan Simon is in New Orleans and he joins us now, live. Dan, bring us up to date.
DAN SIMONS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi there, Zain. We're coming from the northeastern part of town and you can see this area, completely covered with water. You can see right here, though, there's been some progress. It's gone down probably about two-and-a- half feet. We understand that about three dozen of the pumps are now working.
As you mentioned, there have been some search-and-rescues going on during the day and if you pan over here, you can see some ambulances. And I talked to those folks just a little while ago, some of the paramedics. They're basically just waiting for their marching orders, to find out where they should be going. And we have some video of some of the search-and-rescues going on a bit earlier.
We understand that the folks, the good folks from the military and the police department, they're out there looking for bodies and they're also looking for holdouts. It's been quite a challenge -- quite a challenge to get these holdouts out of town. We understand that there are somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people in the city of New Orleans who simply, for whatever reason, do not want to evacuate and so, it's been a huge challenge.
An hour ago, if you were with us, there were a couple of dogs sitting on that peach house over there. We initially spotted one dog and then as we looked closer, there were actually two dogs. And a couple of employees from CNN, our photographer, Emanuel and our satellite truck engineer Ray, actually went and rescued those dogs and they were absolutely skin and bones when we got to them. And if the camera pans, you can now see these dogs.
There they are, both of them, relaxing. We've given them some food. They have some water and it's a real challenge all throughout the city. There are so many stray animals and the animal rescue simply can't get to them all -- Zain?
VERJEE: Dan Simon, giving us a sense of what it's like in New Orleans this day. Dan, thank you so much. You know, just some moments ago, we saw some people spraying some red paint in the shape of an X on some of the house there's. And that's really an indication that that house has been searched -- Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Zain.
Rebuilding is a big priority right now. In battered Biloxi, Mississippi, damage to the city was worse than many people ever imagined. Hundreds of homes and businesses are destroyed and now private contractors are rushing in to reap the windfall of a multimillion dollar reconstruction effort. Earlier, the mayor of Biloxi talked about the city's progress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR A.J. HOLLOWAY, BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI: We are working hard. We're recovering. We're under contract to remove all the debris in the city of Biloxi. Our people are working and cleaning their yards and the essential services are coming back up. The water is -- probably 75 percent of the city has water and electricity and has use of their sanitation system. So, things are getting better every day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Mayor A.J. Holloway says he wants Biloxi's casinos rebuilt quickly. Katrina has crippled the gambling industry, a financial lifeline in Biloxi. And they we're just starting to enjoy a real boom. MGM Mirage says it's already beginning to rebuild its famed Beau Rivage casino.
FEMA is scrapping a plan to hand out $2,000 debit cards to evacuees. Instead, the money will be deposited directly into bank accounts or sent by check in the mail. CNN's Betty Nguyen is at the Houston Astrodome, in Texas, where this switch in policy is adding to a whole lot of frustration.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At dawn, they made their way to the Astrodome looking for assistance, only to be find out their luck had run out. The debit cards are gone.
MARSHALL WHITE, VETERAN: We shouldn't have to be keep running around and then find out Saturday morning the debit plan is scrapped. Now we don't even know what the status is, now.
NGUYEN: For these veterans, that seems to be the theme of their journey.
CURTIS SMITH, VETERAN: We get so many tales of what to do about it and so many different words of which way to go until we get to the place that we never really get the help, because it's gone by the time we make finally it to the front door.
NGUYEN: FEMA says it's handed out some 6,000 cards, but the debit card system requires too large of a staff, so it is scrapping the plan and resorting back to issuing assistance in the form of checks and direct deposits.
JOHN LEWIS, VETERAN: We don't any have bank accounts at all. We don't have access to anything, really. And, like for myself, it's difficult for me to get around.
NGUYEN: And that's just the beginning. Disabled veteran Kenneth Keith, lost his voice to throat cancer and must write down everything so Marshall can speak for him.
WHITE: Our government moved with lightning speed for other countries, but when it comes to us as vets and U.S. citizens, our government hasn't really helped us that much.
NGUYEN: So, this band of brothers keeps walking and searching, hoping to find the assistance they desperately need.
In Houston, Betty Nguyen, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: President Bush is going back to the hurricane disaster area tomorrow. The vice president's already there today. Now, it's just part of the White House effort to respond to criticism that the government was slow to act in Katrina's wake. And there's reason for the Bush administration officials to worry: A new Associated Press- Ipsos poll finds that only 39 percent of Americans say the president is doing a good job; 59 percent disapprove. CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us now from the White House. Elaine, the approval ratings there, at an all-time low.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right and that, of course, is not the only poll that is showing a dip in the president's overall approval numbers. But for the second time in about three days or so, the president is dispatching the vice president, his number two, Dick Cheney, down to the region to assess the situation, but also to spread the message that the Bush administration is taking care of Hurricane Katrina victims.
Now, the vice president, of course, in Austin, Texas, today, where he met with evacuees and emergency officials in yet another attempt to erase perceptions of an inadequate federal response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everybody's got to chip in, but the federal government has a major role to play, especially financially. And just this week, we got authorized and the president signed into law, another $52 billion appropriation for Katrina relief recovery. So, there will be a lot of federal help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: And officials here at the White House, saying they certainly have enormous challenges ahead. Now, taking a look, though, at a new -- at that new poll by "Newsweek," this is something that is the backdrop, really, for all of the actions the Bush administration is taking.
Most Americans, 57 percent, saying that the response to the disaster in New Orleans has caused them to lose confidence in the government to deal with another major natural disaster. We should also mention that the same "Newsweek" poll has the president's overall approval rating even lower than that A.P. poll at 38 percent.
Now, four years ago, President Bush was dealing with another disaster. That, of course, though, man-made. And tomorrow, we should tell you that the president, in order to observe the fourth anniversary of the September 11th attacks, will be observing a moment of silence here at the White House before he returns to the Gulf Coast region for a third time. The president, making a couple of stops to tour the devastated areas once again -- Zain?
VERJEE: Elaine Quijano at the White House.
In just under half an hour, we're expecting a FEMA briefing and Thad Allen will be speaking at that and we will bring that to you live when it happens.
Also, U.S. President George W. Bush will head back, as Elaine Quijano, was saying, to the Gulf region tomorrow and CNN will bring you live coverage of that -- Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: And Thad Allen being the admiral of the Coast Guard who is now in charge of the response efforts there.
Well, many people, critics particularly of the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, are calling it a dismal failure, from the local level up. One former Congressman who worked on the 9/11 commission agrees, despite the billions of dollars that have spent on security and government restructuring since the September 11th attacks.
Tim Roemer says Katrina illustrated just how ill prepared the U.S. is for a major catastrophe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM ROEMER, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: We have had our first post-9/11 test and we've miserably failed. We're not prepared for a disaster. We're not prepared for a large-scale terrorist attack. Our government couldn't drop water to our most needy citizens. We couldn't get generators to people in hospitals. We didn't go by an evacuation plan. I think the first place to start here is not just pointing the finger, it's to get things right and be accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Hurricane Katrina has raised a number of sobering questions about America's disaster readiness. This weekend we get answers. Tune in tonight at 8:00 eastern for a "CNN SECURITY WATCH" special, "IS AMERICA PREPARED."
The flood waters killed more than two dozen residents at one Louisiana nursing home. Now, the state's attorney general wants to know why their evacuation other overlooked. We'll tell you what he's doing now. Zain.
VERJEE: Plus, protecting some of the most vulnerable evacuees. We'll be speaking to a member of one Houston group, who is making sure that senior citizens in need aren't forgotten.
And still to come ...
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you know what happened to your house? What happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It broke.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Katrina from a child's perspective.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: We want to remind you, in a little over 15 minutes from now, we want to take you to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where we'll be hearing from Admiral Thad Allen of the Coast Guard. He's now leading the hurricane relief effort. The press conference is scheduled for about 18 minutes from now out of Baton Rouge. We'll be bringing that to you live as it happens.
We also had showed you some videotape recently of markings taking place of homes throughout the New Orleans area. You see rescue relief, emergency workers there, painting these red Xs, indicating these establishments or homes that have been searched.
Well, along for the ride and producing for CNN, Carey Bodenheimer has been witness to this colossal effort that is involving search and rescue teams from all over the country. She's on the telephone with us now. And Carey, give us an idea of what these search teams are up against as they try to traverse the roads that are more like rivers.
CAREY BODENHEIMER, CNN PRODUCER: Well, the area of the city I'm in is mid-city. It was pretty heavily under water for a long time. But that water has receded. We just stumbled upon the Bethany Home, which is a nursing home or a home for the aged in mid-city on Esplanade (ph) Avenue. And the FEMA morticians, the DMORT team is here with a refrigerator truck.
The markings on the door, which we have learned to decipher very quickly out here, indicate that there are seven dead bodies inside. I, myself, have seen two be brought out in the past 10 minutes or so. The home is several -- it's two stories and it takes up most of a block in the mid-city section of New Orleans. And it looks like another instance of people who just were not able to stay alive under the circumstances of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
WHITFIELD: So Carey, one more time, explain how the markings indicate what these teams are finding inside. You mentioned there are numbers attached. We see a red X. Are there certain colors that mean certain things? Is there a way to read the numbers that are going inside these Xs?
BODENHEIMER: An x means -- Fredricka, and the X means the building has been searched, the premises has been searched. They put a date and a time -- sometimes a time, but always a date. And then they put a number and then the letters LB, living bodies.
And then put a number, and the abbreviation DB. Outside of the nursing home where I am, the number is seven DB, seven dead bodies. I've seen two come out. I expect I'll be seeing more in the near future.
WHITFIELD: OK, and then let me ask you specifically about the LB, living bodies. Are these teams also being instructed to help convey the message that the city still wants to do these mandatory evacuations, that New Orleans Police Department would be the ones carrying out those evacuations?
BODENHEIMER: This is the DMORT team, these guys are the disaster morticians basically, operational response team. They're not here to do anything but retrieve corpses. That is their job. They're in white suits. They are wearing latex medical gloves, and some are wearing face shields.
All are wearing masks because of the terrible smell throughout the city and specifically in place where's dead bodies are being found. And I'm watching a team of four people carry out yet another victim of Hurricane Katrina.
WHITFIELD: All right. So those that are LB, the living bodies, you're underscoring these disaster morticians are having no part in even conveying the message of the evacuations that are likely to be executed. Meantime, let me ask you about these refrigeration trucks. You mentioned that the morticians are there, they're taking account for the dead bodies. Are they -- actually, you tell me. What's the process of removal and then getting those bodies to those refrigeration trucks?
BODENHEIMER: Well, I would imagine -- we're not permitted inside and in fact they're not happy that we film these expeditions, but it's part of our duty to our viewers. They would, I assume, go in and tag and identify these people before they bag the bodies and transport them out to the refrigerator trucks, at which point they will be put on a journey to wherever these bodies are going to be dealt with. I think that's up the river towards Baton Rouge where they're creating these morgues.
WHITFIELD: All right. Carrie Bodenheimer, thank you so much. And, again, you were, you know, mentioning the disaster morticians aren't necessarily happy about you accompanying them. But because of a legal recourse, we're able to do so. Now I want to take you to Baton Rouge and let's listen in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A great decision has been made at the top of this country today, and that's to put a military commander with military experience in charge of one of the most dramatic restorations, probably, in American history. I really respect this admiral. This man showed great leadership at this meeting.
He showed great compassion. He showed great commitment. He has brought the right team, the right FEMA team is now on the ground. And New Orleans is taking a great, positive step to recovery. And speaking on behalf of all the parish president in this region, we are thrilled that the admiral is here with all of his resources.
We are impressed with his leadership. We are impressed with his plan. And we are committed in a partnership working in cooperation with him and all of his resources to take the first major steps to building the greater New Orleans back, not only to what it was, but greater than it's ever been. Thank you, admiral, for being here, sir.
VICE ADM. THAD ALLEN, CHIEF OF STAFF, U.S. COAST GUARD: My pleasure, thank you. I'd just like to make a few remarks, and then we can take a few questions, if you like. We just had a very, very fruitful meeting with the federal, state and local teams that are involved in this response effort, and the six presidents -- actually, we had eight parish presidents, presidents of the parishes that surround the New Orleans area.
We thought it was critical to get together and talk in a very open forum about what we're trying to accomplish together. The unity is going to be needed to move this effort forward. The discussions were frank and open. We talked about where we needed to improve, how we could work together, and we're anxious to move on and develop this partnership and deliver the goods for the people of Louisiana, especially, around New Orleans. And I'd be glad to take me questions you might have for me.
QUESTION: What did you decide today that you need to do differently? ALLEN: Well I think one of the things that came up is there are a lot of people trying to help these parishes. You've got FEMA coming in, you've got the National Guard coming in, and you've got Department of Defense people on ground here with tremendous capabilities. One of the things we talked about today was a single coordinating mechanism, so you could take all those different forces that are flowing into a parish and make sure they were being put to the highest priorities of those parish residents and the presidents. A good conversation in that regard. And I think we know how to move forward from here.
QUESTION: Do you have an estimate of how many people are still in New Orleans holding out? And also, do you have an estimate of how many bodies might eventually be found?
ALLEN: I do not have estimates on how many people are still in New Orleans or the amount of bodies out there. No, sir, I do not.
QUESTION: How about water level. Is that something you've been briefed on yet, where we are -- I mean, there have been percentages of water dropping and I'm wondering --
ALLEN: The water is receding. We are being helped by the pumps that are coming back online. There still are pumps to be put on line. We've had extraordinary good luck from Mother Nature, for once, in that there hasn't been any additional rain or storms. So the dehydration is helping us, too.
Quite clearly, the No. 1 challenge right now is more pumping capacity, and, on water, the city of New Orleans working hard with the corps of engineers and the city to the extent they need additional help with furthering for the people working on the pumps, and things like that. We're helping the city.
QUESTION: What do the parish presidents tell you is their top need or their biggest complaint of the help -- rescue effort so far.
ALLEN: Well we talked about a diverse number of items. I think a couple of things. No. 1 is to focus the help that's coming in to their highest needs. In other words, it was an organizational coordinating mechanism that we needed to do establish, so we didn't have people working in three parts of the parish doing the same type of thing and maybe not in accordance with the highest priorities of the parish presidents.
The other one is moving from shelter to temporary housing. Once you have the evacuees out and you've stabilized them, you've taken care of their personal health needs, you need to move them to temporary shelters. We need to do a better job coordinating that, so if there's a place to put them, preparations have to be made for trailer, let's say, and the trailers be brought in, that we're doing that together. I would say those are probably the two issues. I would ask if there are any comments. Would you say those are the --
AARON BROUSSARD, PRESIDENT, JEFFERSON PARISH: I would just say simply a lot of innovative things were discussed. One of the innovative things the admiral brought up was based on his experience, is that the river is generally an untapped resource that could really help this community and rather than just thinking trucks and interstate, the admiral brought up the idea that the greatest river in the world is right here at our disposal. And with the greatest Navy in the world, the greatest Coast Guard in the world, a lot more resources are going to be brought to bear in New Orleans than other areas that might not have such a great resource as this river.
So I commend the admiral, his innovation and ideas right from the beginning. This is all good news to us, and all of these communities along the Mississippi River will definitely benefit from innovations of bringing in more vessels that would help us fight fires off those rivers, suck water out of those rivers and a host of other things that the admiral recommended to us that we had not thought of.
QUESTION: The collection of bodies, we've gotten conflicting statements, contradictory statements from various levels of government, state, local, and federal, about whether the effort to pick them up has actually begun in earnest. I know that contractors are in here doing some of the work. But has is it really begun? Because there are a lot of people who are wondering about their loved ones.
ALLEN: Well we have been recovering bodies from the start. And our policy is to treat these remains with dignity and respect. In the early parts of this response we're in urban search and rescue we actually encountering remains, and we have been carrying out that all the way along. What we're trying to do now is get a focused, coordinated effort as we do the sweeps through the cities, that we locate the remains, that they're documented, and that they are treated with dignity, that they are transported, they have the right treatment given them, that we have the opportunity to store those remains and notify next of kin. I probably spent three-and-a-half hours today working on the details of that so we can make that as seamless as possible.
We have FEMA folks and contractor folks that are embedded with DOD forces so this is a seamless hand off. DOD is out there in a support role to the local law enforcement officials, or the ones that actually act on scene. And this is a state function, really. You talk about coroner type operations and state medical examiner functions, we are here to provide support. But we want to do that with respect and dignity and make sure those remains are treated that way.
QUESTION: Have you guys talked about a timeline for identifying bodies as well as ranging all the way through the (INAUDIBLE) to the city? Can you give us some sense of what that timeline might be?
ALLEN: Well the general timeline for the city is related to the unwatering. And I don't have the exact details with me, and we can meet again and I can get the Corps of Engineers out here. But it's all related to the capacity of the pumps, the amount of dehydration, the amount of pumps we're able to get back in service. Not all the pumps -- in fact, most of the pumps are not working right now. We're working feverishly to get those back online. Everything is related to the unwatering at this point. One more question? QUESTION: Admiral Allen, since the announcement was made yesterday of the personnel change, have you spoken with FEMA director Mike Brown, and if so what have you guys discussed on the phone?
ALLEN: We had a brief discussion yesterday, before Secretary Chertoff made the announcement. I work with Mike Brown. He's a great friend. I wish him good luck. I'm on ground here to move forward. And that's what I intend to do. Thank you very much, folks.
WHITFIELD: Just over one day now on the job, Admiral Thad Allen of the Coast Guard now leading the hurricane relief efforts there addressing reporters for the first time. And already, showing that he's come up with a few ideas in which to help transport more resources into the area, into the New Orleans area to try and get that city back up on its feet by using the Mississippi River. And we saw that the Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard commending him for doing that, but still underscoring there are still a lot more challenges ahead. That being pumping the water out of New Orleans, for the most part. They've got something like 70 pumps, many of which are portable, to try and got that water out. but it looks like they're feeling pretty encouraged, because it's looking like, by mid next month, they may have all of the water out.
VERJEE: Another challenge you pointed out also was the issue of setting up communications between the different groups operating, and he said that they're beginning to overcome that and they're able to operate a lot more effectively.
When we come back, we really want to take a look at some of the most vulnerable victims of this disaster. One group, particularly, the elderly.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VERJEE: Why didn't the rescuers come? That's what staffers at a New Orleans area nursing home are asking in the aftermath of Katrina. More than 30 residents died at St. Rita's when flood waters rushed in. Louisiana's attorney general plans to investigate why the residents weren't evacuated. But one nurse says she wants answers now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAMMY DAIGLE, ST. RITA'S NURSE: I can't understand, if there was a mandatory evacuation scheduled for Sunday afternoon why they did not get these people out. I don't understand why the (INAUDIBLE) ambulance service didn't go there. I don't understand why the parish officials, the fire department, somebody, anybody didn't go there and get these people out. They knew they were elderly. They knew they were incapable of getting out on their own. They were sick, they were infirm. But they deserved to leave, they did not deserve to drown and not know what happened to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: CNN has made repeated attempts to reach the nursing homes owners for comment, but there's been no response to us so far. Of the thousands of elderly citizens who survived Katrina , many of them have special needs. Hundreds are being cared for in Houston, many at the Astrodome. Heading up the effort there is Jan Edwards, the director of case management for Sheltering Arms Senior Services. Thanks so much for being with us.
From what you've seen, Jan, what is the condition of the elderly there?
JAN EDWARDS, SHELTERING ARMS SENIOR SERVICES: Well, a lot of them were traumatized. A lot of them were very ill became ill on the way to the Astrodome. The conditions here were really not ideal for their situation, for their condition. And so a lot of them continued to deteriorate. They were very, very vulnerable to the worst of the conditions here.
VERJEE: What about those who have special needs, those who may suffer from dementia or severe arthritis or who even may be blind?
EDWARDS: Well, we found that, a as we knew, we all worked with elder services here in the Swift (ph) program which coalesced very quickly on the ground here under the guidance of Dr. Dyer (ph), these folks were the least likely to come forward and seek the help they needed, whether it was medical attentions or other services.
And so we devised a plan to actually go out and walk among the cots in teams including social workers and nurses and other volunteers, and find them. Our primary goal was to get them out of the conditions where they were, get them to medical attention, get them to the hospitals, get them placed in nursing homes where they could be cared for appropriately.
VERJEE: What about trying to connect them with relatives, registering them also as missing people, because clearly they're not in a position to do it themselves. So presumably, you're doing that?
EDWARDS: Yes. We were doing that as much as possible with whatever information that was available. As you can imagine, it's pretty sparse with people who cannot speak for themselves. A lot of them were able to give us some details. And we were able to make several connections with family.
VERJEE: It's so difficult watching frail, vulnerable, often confused elderly trying to figure out what to do and how to do it, not understanding the situation that they're in. You've been speaking to them. Give us a sense of the experiences that you've had in conversations with one or two are or more of them that stand out in your mind.
EDWARDS: Well, we've had a lot of issue around their healthcare. And we've moved them out into nursing homes and other facilities in the community. We've been trying to track where they're going so that if we do reach family, they can be reached. A lot of them have been just quietly laying in their cots, becoming more and more dehydrated. Some of them have been wandering. They're not able to take a bath or get to the toilet. Very basing things. And so their condition is pretty bad. In the best of cases. The ones who are cognitively intact, mentally intact, are still totally adrift. They're traumatized. They're not sleeping. It's very hard for them to get access to the hot food and the other services that are here.
So we've been expediting that, doing the very basic being things getting wheelchairs for them, picking up food, delivering to it them, getting them in front of the doctors and nurses. And so on.
VERJEE: Jan Edwards with Sheltering Arms. Thank you so much for joining us and speaking to us and giving a sense of what's going on where you are. Thank you.
EDWARDS: You're very welcome.
VERJEE: The children of the storm. Up next from toddlers to teenagers, we want to show you how Katrina's taking a toll on the youngest of evacuees.
And still to come, cleaning the water around New Orleans. How long lit take to make it safe?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: For most of the U.S., September is back to school time. But for the children of Hurricane Katrina, things are not so easy. The storm drove thousands of families from their holes, leaving many with no homes to speak of. CNN's Gary Tuchman has been talking to some children of the storm.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a smoky men's room in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a little boy gets a hair cut from a man he doesn't even know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay still just like that.
TUCHMAN: Little D.J. is now living a life he's never known. As a boy without a home. He, three brothers and sisters and his mom, are now residents of this cavernous sports arena. Thousands of people sleeping on cots and on the floor. It's confusing enough for the adults. Imagine being a kid.
(on camera): How old are you, D.J.?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four.
TUCHMAN: Four years old? I'm 44.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forty-four.
TUCHMAN: Forty-four. Nice hair cut, by the way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. TUCHMAN: How do you like my hair cut?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ain't got a hair cut.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): D.J. is one of about 600 children here who have lost their homes, their schools and many of the things they knew. Here, they're having to get used to being frisked by armed members of the National Guard.
(on camera): Do you know what happened to your house? What happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It broke.
TUCHMAN: It broke?
(voice-over): Most of the school-aged children here had just started their new school year in the New Orleans area.
Arnie Olsen (ph) was five and getting into the swing of kindergarten. How you now he too has to find a new house.
(on camera): What don't you like about being here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't go to sleep very good an because the floor's hard and people be spitting all over.
TUCHMAN: People be what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spitting all over.
TUCHMAN: Spitting?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
TUCHMAN: Spitting on the floor?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
TUCHMAN: That's not too good is it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. And throwing trash on the floor too much.
TUCHMAN That must be hard, because you don't do that at home, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
TUCHMAN: What's your favorite part of it here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of like fun, because I have new friends.
TUCHMAN: There are plenty of kids to play with, but the fun comes amid chaos, little kids shouldn't have to deal with. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Watch out! Watch out!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the little boy.
TUCHMAN: A woman is on one of the few pay phones too long. She gets warned about it, angrily leaves the shelter with her young son.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn it off. Turn it off now.
TUCHMAN: This environment is not conducive to normalcy. The sadness is everywhere. This little girl is told to draw pictures to let her feelings out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Maya (ph). This is Hurricane Katrina.
TUCHMAN: Ten-year-old Maya Isadore (ph) here with her aunt. Her mother, Deborah Isadore (ph), was at work when the hurricane struck and Maya doesn't know where she is now.
What kind of lady is your mom?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A caring mom, a nice mom, a nice mother. She cared for me a lot. She -- she's beautiful. She's nice.
TUCHMAN: Children, who gained an understanding of adversity while losing some of their youthful innocence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And that was Gary Tuchman reporting.
Coming up in the next hour, we'll show you how one group is trying reunite lost children with their missing parents.
VERJEE: Getting rid of the flooding in New Orleans isn't that city's only water worry. How can officials clean up the contamination once the waters recede? We're going to ask Dr. Bill Lloyd next. Plus, the power of Katrina isn't strong enough to stop love. How a Texas community helped an evacuated couple become husband and wife.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In New Orleans, it's expected most of the water will be pumped out by next month. Buy what are the lasting effects? For that, we turn to our Dr. Bill Lloyd of the University of California Davis Medical Center. And you're joining us now. Thanks so much, Dr. Lloyd.
Good to see you.
DR. BILL LLOYD, UC DAVIS MEDICAL CENTER: Hi, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, we've heard that reportedly, at least four people have died from various infections or contaminants from the water. What kind of ailments are we talking about? LLOYD: Sure, Fredricka, it's important that we understand we're talking about the flood water that's stagnant, that's sitting in New Orleans. Not necessarily the drinking water. This water is full of sewage, of decomposed animals and unfortunately human bodies, a variety of petrochemical products, fertilizers, pesticides and many chemicals we probably will never know that's in the water.
The good news, the water is receding, but people are taking special precautions to avoid coming in contact with it. We think about the infectious materials in that water. You won't get sick by looking at it or by breathing near it. You have to make contact with the water.
And the diseases are familiar to us. E. coli, good news. The CDC says none of the dangerous strains of e. coli have been found, but other novel problems, like West Nile and a small bug called leptosporosis which already inhabits Louisiana. People who come into contact, who fall into this contaminated water could contract leptosporosis and that could be a fatal disease.
WHITFIELD: And the contact we're talking about, everything from touching it, wading through it, or even drinking it, whether it be intentionally or not, what are some of the symptoms that people need to look out for, because really, some of these ailments you're talking about are almost like silent ailments or infections and diseases. A lot of times, people don't know they have it.
LLOYD: Certainly. Let's break it down. First, it involves contact. You've got to get enough of the bugs into your system. So as you mentioned, perhaps a cut or by swallowing it, you could introduce a large number of germs to get that infection.
Viruses tend to act quickly. Win three or four days, Norwalk virus, for example, or other intestinal viruses, you'll be pretty sick. But other organisms, we mentioned the leptosporosis, it might be a month or longer before you start getting a viral-like syndrome, a flu and a fever. And if you've been evacuated to another city far away from New Orleans, the doctors there have to remember, you might have been exposed to some of that dangerous water. Certainly in the faraway locations, physicians there are thinking about possible previous exposures to that contaminated water as one explanation why some of evacuees may not be feeling so good.
WHITFIELD: So, Dr. Bill, how important is it that almost anyone who has come into contact with the water needs to get at least a hepatitis shot?
LLOYD: They've come down with specific guidelines in the past 24 hours. If you've come in contact with the filthy stagnant water, you should shower immediately with soap and water. Individuals, rescuers who actually fall into the water and become immersed into that fetid pool, they're actually going to be evacuated and treated like a biohazard.
Certainly, anybody working in that area deserves a hepatitis a vaccine and it might take several weeks to work if you come down with hepatitis a, you can still get the vaccine to minimize the illnesses that you can get.
WHITFIELD: And Dr. Bill, before I let you go, once they pump out the water, they're expecting it will be pumped out by next month, we're still talking about residual bacteria and contaminants. In the long run, are you looking at months, years before it would be safe, whether it be the soil or even Lake Pontchartrain, where a lot of the water is being pumped into?
LLOYD: About Pontchartrain, Mother Nature is going to take over there and the lake will take care of itself. Within the city, after a good power washing and a couple of sunny days, most of the exposed germs will disappear. The germs we are talking about are already in the soil, they are in the soil across the country so a good scrubbing of New Orleans is going to take care of the problem and in the future, hopefully, we'll be talking about the drinking water as well.
WHITFIELD: All right. All encouraging news. Thanks so much, Dr. Bill Lloyd -- Zain.
VERJEE: In any disaster area, compassion comes in many different forms. Barbara Starr now reports on one of the finest heroes yet to emerge after Hurricane Katrina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LTG RUSSEL HONORE, U.S. ARMY: We're not stuck on stupid.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's only one of the many down to earth favorite sayings of Lieutenant General Russel Honore. The three star commander leading the military's humanitarian relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. CNN was the only news organization to embed with the general in the early days of the disaster. We watched the 6'2" Louisiana native get the world's attention.
HONORE: Hey. Weapons down. Weapons down, dammit.
STARR: When he ordered hundreds of troops to put their guns down when they brought a food and water convoy into New Orleans.
HONORE: You're delivering food.
STARR: The people cheered the man they did not even know. But this cigar chewing, stomping, cussing general also has emerged as a brilliant strategist. Bringing together local and state officials who seemed overwhelmed. It's the mixture of tough military leadership and compassion that those who know Honore remark on. A colleague who knows him well says he and his wife drove hours to visit a dying friend from the army that they hadn't seen in years. But another general says, god help anyone who stands in his way in New Orleans.
HONORE: We'll load up in this vehicle right here. Let's go.
STARR: At the height of the crisis, he stops to pick up babies on the street and take them to safety. But then, he explodes at a press conference when a reporter questions how fast the help arrives. HONORE: That's B.S. I will take that on behalf of every first responder down there.
STARR: This is no West Point stuffed shirt graduate. Commissioned as second lieutenant in 1971, he has a degree in vocational agriculture from Southern University and rose through the army in a series of fairly routine jobs. But now, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin calls him a "John Wayne Kind of Guy."
And now that the general has helped save more than 60,000 people off the streets of New Orleans, he will also try to save the pets.
HONORE: We're going try to facilitate that by getting our soldiers some cages and the right equipment so they can try to bring the animals to a collection point.
STARR: For Honore, the urgency to save all the hurricane victims has not let up and he won't allow his people to let up either.
HONORE: We're still in the first quarter of this operation. If you make the analogy to an American football game, we're in the first quarter. A lot of things left to be done, and we're here to make it happen.
STARR: Barbara Starr, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: And Lieutenant General Russel Honore will join Wolf Blitzer for special airing of LATE EDITION. That's going to be tomorrow morning at 11:00 Eastern, 8:00 Pacific.
WHITFIELD: Well, humans aren't the only Katrina evacuees in need of a home. Coming up in the next hour of CNN LIVE SATURDAY we'll tell you what's happening to the residents of the New Orleans Aquarium.
And up next, from a new marriage to a new life. Two Katrina stories that will warm your heart.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VERJEE: Even in the most catastrophic circumstances, love endures. Now, one couple left homeless by Katrina knows that all too well. They thought the storm had scrapped their wedding plans, but they finally said their "I dos" thanks to the efforts of family members and a big hearted community of heroes. Wendell Edwards of affiliate KHOU has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll have one song right here.
WENDELL EDWARDS, KHOU CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Courtney Coubarous thought she would be nervous, instead, she's anxious. After all, she's getting married. She and her fiance Reginald Fournier were supposed to be married in New Orleans, but Hurricane Katrina changed all that.
COURTNEY COUBAROUS, BRIDE: We have been saving. We were on a strict budget. And so when everything was gone, once this happened, we were like, well, we don't have any money anyway so let's go to the justice of the peace.
EDWARDS: But that quickly changed when the sister and brother- in-law told their Houston host family about the meager wedding.
DANNY MEYER, KINGSLAND BAPTIST CHURCH: I was like, guys, y'all just need to get married in our church. Our pastor would just love to do that.
EDWARDS (on camera): Just two days ago this couple from Louisiana had given up on having the wedding of their dreams, but now thanks to a outpouring of generosity, they're having a wedding they never could have dreamed of.
(voice-over): In a matter of 24 hours everything came together, the photographer, the flowers, the music, limousine, the reception, all donated.
REGINALD FOURNIER, GROOM: It's just a blessing. You know, I couldn't ask for any more than everything that's been coming to me.
EDWARDS: There were some hiccups.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need some directions.
EDWARDS: The bride's family got lost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to go south.
EDWARDS: But in the end, they made it. And Courtney and Reginald made it to the altar in a wedding they didn't plan or expect, but one they say turned out even better.
In Cady (ph), Wendell Edwards, 11 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Perfect. From a story from the power of love to a story of a new beginning of evacuees. Jack Kuenzie of WIS News 10 has a story of one couple starting their new life together in South Carolina with a new life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACK KUENZIE, WIS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Shea Dixon Young (ph) is having a baby. She's been in labor for hours. Husband, William, at her side. Shea knows his mom, Barbara Weber, is close by too.
BARBARA WEBBER, MOTHER IN LAW: She's doing fine. She's doing fine. She's had extensive labor. She started labor this morning about 3:00. KUENZIE: Shea also knows she's lucky to be at Providence Hospital Northeast in Columbia. Ten days ago, the couple was on the run as Hurricane Katrina blew away their home on New Orleans' west side. What Shea and William do not know is that her parents are alive. We found out from Red Cross workers in Columbia and gave that information to Weber.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How you doing?
KUENZIE: Now, we're there as she tells her daughter-in-law.
WEBER: They found Kat and Bruce.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No! Get away.
WEBER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get away!
WEBER: Yep. We found 'em.
KUENZIE: There is little time to rejoice. Minutes later, Shea is wheeled to the delivery room for a c-section. More emotion as William waits for the couple's first child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's gorgeous!
KUENZIE: It doesn't take long. And then, a father meets his son William Young V.
(on camera): And if all of this wasn't enough, there is more good news for William and Shea. Volunteers have already arranged for housing, furniture, a crib, even jobs.
TINA TORRES, VOLUNTEER: I think it's more than just the ray of light. I mean, I think that it shows that the Midlands people have compassion and that we are here and that if anyone needs any one of us, we're there to help.
KUENZIE (voice-over): At 7 pounds 9 ounces, Baby William is alert and healthy and as near as anyone can tell he has also made history. The first baby born to a Katrina evacuee in South Carolina. So welcome, William. Everyone is happy you could join us. Jack Kuenzie, WIS News 10.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: That so is sweet! Great happy endings from, well -- new beginnings all over the place, the weddings, the new baby.
VERJEE: A little hope and inspiration I think we all need.
Finding lost loved ones. Coming up in the next hour of CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
WHITFIELD: How one national group is making sure family members separated by Katrina finally find their way home. And each other.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
