New Orleans begins counting its dead
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-05 06:56

Newsweek reported former Louisiana Democratic Sen. John Breaux (news, bio, voting record), whom it called a close ally of President Bush, rejected Bush's claim that nobody anticipated the failure of New Orleans' levees, saying he talked to Bush about it last year.

POOR AND BLACK IN NEW ORLEANS

Most of Katrina's victims were black and poor, and some black leaders have alleged the federal government would have moved much quicker if rich, white people were suffering.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice rejected the claim on a tour of Mobile, Alabama. "Nobody, especially the president, would have left people unattended on the basis of race."

But it looked different from the disaster zone.

"For those who were alone in the water, alone on the roof, you might ask 'What did we do to deserve this?"' Rev. Lowell Case told his congregation at St. Francis Xavier Church in Baton Rouge. "A lot of us think being black may have had something to do with it, being poor and black in New Orleans."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld toured a medical facility at New Orleans' international airport on Sunday. He spoke and shook hands with military and rescue officials but walked right by a dozen refugees lying on stretchers just feet away from him, most of them extremely sick or handicapped.

A total of 54,000 military personnel are now committed to relief efforts, including around 40,000 National Guard.

After days of broken promises, the rescue effort kicked into top gear on Saturday with tens of thousands of people evacuated in helicopters, planes, buses and trains.

But the death toll has continued to rise as evacuees succumbed to illness and exhaustion before and after arriving at emergency shelters, most of them in Texas.

Katrina's impact was felt across the United States as gas prices rose to more than $3 a gallon after its 140 mph (225 kph) winds shut eight oil refineries and crippled others.

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