Katrina Disaster Blog
This is a running list compiled by CBSNews.com staffers of the latest developments in the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
Sept. 11, 2005
12:30 p.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) An army officer says evacuation is not the military's role.
The commander of active duty troops involved in hurricane relief efforts says soldiers won't enforce evacuation orders in flooded New Orleans.
10:00 a.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) The search for bodies in New Orleans was suspended for a few moments today. Firefighters from New Orleans, New York and other cities paused to observe the fourth anniversary of the Nine-Eleven attacks.
Three hundred and forty three New York firefighters died that day. Today, in the Algiers section of New Orleans, rescuers built a makeshift memorial that said: "Never Forget."
3:51 a.m.
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) Thailand's top forensic expert, who spearheaded efforts to identify corpses after December's tsunami disaster, left Bangkok early Sunday for the U.S. to assist with the same task in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath.
Porntip Rojanansunand, who has attained celebrity status in Thailand, along with four other forensic experts departed on a flight to the United States with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin will be attending an United Nations summit in New York.
1:42 a.m.
ATLANTA (AP) - The American Red Cross has set up a national toll-free call center to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina with financial resources and referrals to other services.
Families in need can access the program beginning today at 9 a.m. To apply for aid, those calling in must be ready to provide their name, pre-storm address, ZIP code and home telephone number to call center agents.
12:05 a.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Cadaver dogs and boatloads of forensic workers fanned out across New Orleans to collect corpses left behind by the hurricane. Cleanup crews tow away abandoned cars and even begin readying a hotel for reopening.
Sept. 10, 2005
10:32 p.m.
BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — It will take $500 million dollars to repair the damage to Keesler Air Force Base from Hurricane Katrina. That assessment comes from Brigadier General Bill Lord, wing commander of the 81st Training Wing.
Keesler is a major training and medical center for the military. It sits between the Gulf of Mexico and the Back Bay of Biloxi in Mississippi. Keesler's medical center is the second largest in the Air Force. It suffered extensive damage from Katrina's flooding and has been shut down.
8:40 p.m.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Bush administration says it won't stand in the way of news media reporting on the recovery of bodies. But it won't necessarily help. CNN had filed suit against FEMA after two government officials said they didn't believe it was right for the media to show pictures of Hurricane Katrina victims.
The government says it won't stand in the way of that coverage. But photographers won't be allowed to join workers in boats or helicopters during the recovery. CNN agreed to the government's stand and has put its lawsuit on hold.
8:22 p.m.
Watch complete coverage of Hurricane Katrina from the CBS Evening News:
Bill Whitaker on foreign aid7:26 p.m.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Red Cross is looking for a few good volunteers, 40,000 to be exact. The goal is to train them and dispatch them to Gulf Coast states to assist in long-term hurricane relief efforts.
6:26 p.m.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Vice President Cheney calls hurricane relief in Texas an enormous success story. The vice president visited a shelter today in Austin, where he told reporters the state has turned out in remarkable ways and has done a lot of things right.
Cheney says the evacuees he met are thankful and uniformly positive, and he says none of those he spoke with mentioned any problems with the relief effort. In answer to a question, he said he supports the decision to reassign FEMA director Michael Brown.
3:39 p.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Some of those helping out in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are veterans of 9/11 who say they're returning a favor. New York fire captain Jim Rallis says after New York was attacked, the New Orleans Fire Department donated a truck called the "Spirit of Louisiana."
About 350 New York firefighters and 300 New York police officers are working in New Orleans.
Video: Watch Jim Acosta's report on the
in the Gulf Coast.3:05 p.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As crews continue the search for people killed and people stranded by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, officials report that the confirmed death toll in Louisiana stands at 154. Boatloads of forensic workers, helped by cadaver dogs, have fanned out today across New Orleans to collect the corpses.
Meanwhile, the police chief in New Orleans says his officers are "definitely in control" of the city. After the lawlessness that was seen in the days after Hurricane Katrina hit, chief Eddie Compass says, "We've been almost crime-free for the last four days." He says officers are patrolling all areas with National Guard troops and others.
1:20 p.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A firefighter from Maryland says the water level in New Orleans appears to be dropping by six to 12 inches a day. And that's allowing the cleanup to get under way.
It's begun at the convention center, where piles of trash are being hauled away from the former evacuation center. An official of a company that specializes in disaster cleanup says his crews are finished cleaning up city hall. Trash from there has been dropped at a temporary dump in a downtown parking lot.
11:35 a.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Here and there, something normal is happening in New Orleans. Not all the city is flooded. Not all homes are destroyed. And even though authorities are still encouraging people to leave, some of those who are living on dry streets have quietly been allowed to go about their lives. A few people hang out at night in neighborhood bars, drinking warm beer by candlelight.
10:00 a.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush is making a connection between two catastrophic events for the United States: Nine-Eleven and Hurricane Katrina.
Bush says Americans will come together and make the Gulf Coast more vibrant than ever, just as they rebuilt after Nine-Eleven.
Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of the terrorist attacks. In his weekly radio address, Bush said the nation's greatest resource during times of trouble is what he called the "compassionate character of the American people." He did not mention the charges that the government has bungled Katrina relief.
2:24 a.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) The Department of Homeland Security has stopped short of reassuring illegal immigrants victimized by Hurricane Katrina that they can seek help from relief agencies without fear of arrest, a promise the federal government made after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Spokeswoman Joanna Gonzalez refused to directly answer repeated questions about whether the agency can assure illegal immigrants that their information would not be turned over to law enforcement agencies when they seek help.
12:03 a.m.
SINGAPORE (AP) Four Singaporean air force helicopters have completed a weeklong relief mission in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the government said Saturday.
The CH-47 Chinook helicopters from Singapore's Peace Prairie detachment based in Grand Prairie, Texas, have returned to their base from Louisiana, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
During the relief mission, the Chinook crews flew more than 80 sorties and transported over 800 evacuees and security personnel, and more than 540 tons of equipment, humanitarian supplies and sand, the ministry said.
Read previous Katrina Disaster Blogs: Sept. 10, Sept. 9, Sept. 8, Sept. 7, Sept. 6, Sept. 5, Sept. 4, Sept. 3, Sept. 2, Sept. 1, Aug. 31