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U.S. admits thousands died in storm

Duncan Campbell, Gary Younge and Julian Borger

Washington appeals for food and medical supplies from Europe, Canada

NEW ORLEANS/WASHINGTON: New Orleans was finally emptied of the last desperate remnants of its population on Sunday, leaving behind a ghost town under military occupation as troops fanned out through the city streets.

In belated recognition of the depth of the crisis, Washington swallowed its pride and asked for blankets, food and water trucks from the European Union and NATO, and beds and medical supplies from Canada.

Epidemic threat

As relief workers, National Guardsmen and soldiers went door to door looking for bodies, U.S. Health Secretary Michael Leavitt confirmed the worst fears over the death toll, saying it was ``evident it is in the thousands''.

Federal officials said the next threat was of an epidemic caused by floodwater contaminated by dead bodies, sewage and toxic waste.

The first case of dysentery was reported on Sunday, and a relief shelter was closed following fears of disease in Mississippi, where rescue workers were also looking for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

In New Orleans, the tumult and anguish of the past week were replaced by a haunting calm, as the last survivors were lifted out by helicopter.

The streets were deserted apart from soldiers posted every few blocks, with rifles slung on their shoulders, and cats and dogs rooting through piles of rubbish. In districts where the National Guard and police were not out in force, there was still a sense of nervousness. One spray-painted sign on a building warned: ``Drunks with guns — you loot, we shoot.'' Local officials warned that law enforcement officers and their armed deputies were ``highly strung'' and anyone thinking of entering to loot might not make it out alive.

By an official count, more than 42,000 people had been evacuated from the city over the weekend, although an occasional dazed survivor emerged from a house on Sunday for the first time since the hurricane struck.

The mass evacuation has imposed a severe burden on neighbouring States and cities that have thrown open their doors. Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, which has accepted more than 220,000 people — around 1 per cent of its own total population — called it the biggest influx of refugees in U.S. history.

Evacuees have also been moved by train, bus and air, to Oklahoma, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Colorado, Arizona and South Carolina.

Delay in relief denied

Towns along the Mississippi Gulf coast to the west of New Orleans that were also decimated by Katrina were also moving people out and facing up to the formidable task of reconstruction. A spokesman for the town of Biloxi said casualties were being found in the debris every day.

As they pressed ahead with the relief effort, administration officials denied allegations that they had dithered for four days before intervening decisively.

As the political storm gained momentum, the White House hit back. Federal officials blamed the Louisiana State Government of Governor Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, for waiting too long to call for outside help.

Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, toured her home State of Alabama. She had been criticised for going on Wednesday to watch Spamalot, a Broadway musical, when New Orleans was already under several feet of water.

On returning to Washington, she denied that the delay in sending help to New Orleans had anything to do with the fact most of the stranded survivors were black. ``That Americans would somehow in a colour-affected way decide who to help and who not to help, I just don't believe it,'' Ms Rice said.

- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

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