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Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005

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  Fully one-third of the 21,000 National Guard troops descending on the Gulf Coast from across the country will be used for security, to prevent looting, enforce curfews and enhance local law and order, said Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, commander of National Guard forces.

In a massive response that was still unfolding Wednesday, the Pentagon was sending a broad contingent of ships, aircraft, trucks, medical support and other personnel to support federal agencies already providing aid to the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

The Pentagon has sent in about 60 helicopters, which will be used for search and rescue operations, damage assessment flights, and the distribution of supplies throughout the region.

"Clearly this is the biggest natural disaster to hit the nation in my lifetime," said Blum, "and it would require the largest national response."

Late Wednesday, the Air Force was coordinating medical evacuation flights out of New Orleans International Airport, and special operations forces were bringing in battery-powered runway lights so flights could continue through the night. Hundreds of patients - one flight included dozens of expectant mothers - were being flown to hospitals in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Shreveport, La., said Col. Jeff Franklin, who is coordinating the Air Force and Air National Guard and Reserve airlift flights.

"We're making every effort to carry patients out every time a plane leaves there," said Franklin, who is based at the Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.

He said tents will be set up at the airport to house patients until they are flown out.

The Air Force special operations team, which includes air traffic controllers, will be working to reopen the airport.

According to the Pentagon, 7,200 active duty military troops, mainly Navy crews on ships that were headed to the Gulf Coast from Virginia, were responding to the disaster. Brig. Gen. Terry Scherling said more could be sent in coming days. Included in that number were several hundred from the Army Corps of Engineers.

Military officials said major goals include getting ports open and clearing roads so that rescue personnel can get to people in need. Truck units from across the country were en route, providing hundreds of vehicles, including five-ton trucks that can move through the deep water. And the Idaho National Guard was sending portable radios to shore up the ragged communications in the region.

The military is also preparing to provide mobile and shipboard hospital beds, including the hospital ship USNS Comfort, which was leaving Baltimore on its way to the Gulf region. In addition, eight water rescue SEAL teams from California were on the way to Lafayette, La., with small, rigid hulled boats that can work in shallow water to pull stranded residents from their flooded homes and neighborhoods. They were expected to arrive Wednesday.

A key priority Wednesday was developing a plan for the massive evacuation of the Superdome in New Orleans, which has become a shelter of last resort for about 20,000 people.

Lt. Col. Rich Steele said officials were planning to bring helicopters in to fly out the several thousand people there who cannot walk, and to get buses for the rest.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco has said that she wants the Superdome evacuated within two days because the situation has been worsening there. The water has been rising, the air conditioning was out and toilets were broken.

As of mid-afternoon, Coast Guard air and boat crews had rescued 1,259 people across the region and recovery teams were delivering food, water, medical equipment and other supplies, said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Carter.

Five offshore Louisiana oil rigs were missing and two more adrift in the Gulf of Mexico, Carter said. Another submersible rig was grounded. Additionally, the Coast Guard station in Gulfport, Miss., was destroyed while another in Venice, La., is partially under water. Two other Coast Guard stations - in New Orleans and Grand Isle, La. - have sustained slight or little damage, Carter said.

All Gulf of Mexico ports remained closed, Carter said. He added that four Coast Guard personnel from the Mobile, Ala., area are missing.

The massive military response is being coordinated by a newly created military Joint Task Force Katrina, based at Camp Shelby in Mississippi. The head of the task force, Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, was meeting with other military commanders and FEMA officials and flying over the ravaged New Orleans region Wednesday afternoon to assess the damage.

© 2005 The Associated Press

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