Death toll rises to 423 in state of Louisiana, according to Health Department

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New Orleans Death Toll Climbs to 423
Sep 13 6:12 PM US/Eastern


By ADAM NOSSITER
Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS

The airport reopened to commercial flights Tuesday for the first time since Hurricane Katrina struck more than two weeks ago, and the port was back in operation, too, as a battered New Orleans struggled to get up and running again. The death toll in Louisiana climbed to 423.

Mayor Ray Nagin said that dry areas of hurricane-ravaged New Orleans _ including the French Quarter, Uptown and the central business district _ could be officially opened from dawn to dusk as soon as Monday, provided the Environmental Protection Agency finds the air and water are safe.

"We're out of nuclear crisis mode and into normal, day-to-day crisis mode," he said.

At the same time, however, he said the city is out of cash and cannot make its next payroll. He said the city is working "feverishly" with banking and federal officials to secure lines of credit through the end of the year

The slow signs of recovery came amid promises from the White House and FEMA to learn from their mistakes and intensify their efforts to help the victims.

Northwest Airlines Flight 947 from Memphis, Tenn. _ the first commercial flight into or out of Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport since the storm hit _ landed around midday with about 30 people aboard, far fewer than the jet could hold.

Those aboard included emergency workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some carried only a few belongings in plastic bags and gym bags.

Among those returning to New Orleans was Steven Kischner, who said the mood aboard the plane was "eerie."

"I'm anxious to get home to see what our house is going to look like," said Sandy Rozales, who lives in the Lakeshore section of New Orleans, close to a levee break, and left on the last flight out of town Aug. 28 just before the hurricane hit.

She said those on the flight were "preoccupied thinking about what they'd see when they get home and hoping that the worst wasn't quite what they got."

Using generator power, New Orleans' airport was back in operation the day after the hurricane hit, but was reserved for emergency use, including evacuation flights.

The city's recovery could be seen along the New Orleans waterfront as well. A shipment of steel coils left the port by barge Monday, bound for a Hyundai auto plant in Greenville, Ala., port spokesman Chris Bonura said.

The port expected the arrival late Tuesday of its first cargo ship since the hurricane, and at least three more ships by week's end, said Gary LaGrange, port president and chief executive. The arriving ship was carrying up to 500 containers of coffee and wood products from Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, LaGrange said.

"It's a historical moment. Two weeks ago the prognosis was six months, so to pull it off so our customers have enough faith and confidence in us is very heartwarming," LaGrange said. He added: "From a commercial and psychological standpoint, this is five stars. This shows the people of New Orleans their city is back in business."

The port of New Orleans is the gateway to a river system serving 33 states along the Mississippi River or its tributaries. The port also connects to six railroads.

During a tour of hurricane-stricken Mississippi, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta pronounced Katrina the worst disaster for transportation in U.S. history.

Mineta said Katrina affected ports, highways and rivers. "Add that all up and it's a larger magnitude than anything we've ever experienced," he said.

The government has estimated the damage to highways and bridges in Mississippi and Louisiana at $3 billion.

The state Health Department said the death toll in Louisiana climbed to 423 Tuesday, up from 279 a day before. The jump came as recovery workers turned more and more of their attention to gathering up and counting the corpses in a city all but emptied out of the living.

The death toll is all but certain to rise, because some flooded-out areas of the city have not been fully searched. But how high it might go is unclear. Authorities have cast strong doubt on the mayor's dire projection earlier this month of perhaps 10,000 dead.

Nagin said he expected to receive a report late Tuesday from the Environmental Protection Agency on the condition of the city's air and the floodwaters that still cover a large portion of the city. If the EPA concludes there are no airborne toxins or diseases above normal levels, dry sections of the city will be opened, he said.

Tuesday brought a sharp influx of people checking on their businesses in New Orleans.

Rusty White received a pass from police to check on the Bulldog, his bar on the edge of the Garden District. He drove in from his temporary lodgings in the town of Rayne and retrieved a data cartridge from the bar's computer. He also planned to swing by his house _ if he could get to it _ in a still-flooded neighborhood near Lake Pontchartrain.

"I probably lost my house, but I'm still in good spirits, considering," White said. "If you had told me before the storm I would lose everything, I'd probably tell you I'd be devastated. It makes me think all that stuff that I had isn't really as important as I thought it was _ at least until I go in and see it, and then I may cry."

White was relieved to find that the bar had sustained little damage from the storm, though looters had smashed open the cash register and video poker machines and apparently took a few bottles of bourbon on their way out. They left behind a flat-screen TV.

White was encouraged by his first visit to the city since Katrina.

"Many of the things that make this place special are still here. Everybody I talk to is coming back. They're not even thinking of going someplace else," White said. "I hope I'm not being naively optimistic, but that's the feeling I have."

In Washington, President Bush said "I take responsibility" for the government's failures in dealing with the hurricane, and he said the disaster raised questions about the nation's ability to respond to natural disasters as well as terrorist attacks.

"Are we capable of dealing with a severe attack? That's a very important question and it's in the national interest that we find out what went on so we can better respond," the president said.

The new acting director of FEMA pledged to intensify efforts to find more permanent housing for the tens of thousands of Katrina survivors now in shelters.

"We're going to get people out of the shelters. We're going to move on and get them the help they need," R. David Paulison said in his first public comments since he was named to replace Michael Brown. Brown resigned under fire over the government's sluggish response to the disaster.

While public health authorities have been warning about the risk of germs from the filthy floodwaters, workers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are not seeing many cases of disease.

Instead, between 40 percent and 50 percent of patients seeking emergency care have injuries _ CDC has counted 148 injuries in just the past two days, Carol Rubin, an agency hurricane-relief specialist. She said they include chainsaw injuries and carbon monoxide poisoning from generators.