KATU (ABC Portland) 11 p.m. news open - 2005-08-31

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] K2 News Local Plus, the Northwest only

[0:04] all local news, weather, plus the top

[0:06] five. K2 News Local Plus starts right

[0:09] now.

[0:14] For the first time, we see home video of

[0:16] Hurricane Katrina hitting the Gulf

[0:18] Coast. Days later, New Orleans sinks

[0:20] deeper into chaos. Dead bodies are left

[0:23] on sidewalks. Infants with no formula

[0:26] waiting in the heat. There's looting and

[0:28] shooting in the streets. Arsonists set

[0:31] fires. The mayor of New Orleans issues a

[0:33] desperate SOS saying the city has run

[0:36] out of resources. A Northwest woman

[0:38] returns home from the disaster and

[0:40] recalls her vacation that turned into a

[0:42] living nightmare.

[0:44] >> There was a man looting in. Police

[0:46] officer shot him on the spot.

[0:47] >> And the Northwest joins the world in the

[0:50] relief efforts. Oregon's governor orders

[0:52] National Guard troops to Louisiana.

[0:56] >> Good evening. Thanks a lot for being

[0:57] with us. I'm Steve Dunn. Louisiana's

[0:59] governor declares war on looters who've

[1:01] turned the streets of New Orleans into

[1:03] scenes of chaos and fear. And the

[1:05] Houston Astrodome is too full after

[1:07] taking in more than 11,000 refugees. So

[1:10] officials are sending buses to other

[1:11] shelters. We get the latest now with

[1:13] Gloria Rivera live in Mississippi.

[1:17] >> Good evening. It's been 3 days since

[1:20] Katrina hit and still there is very much

[1:22] a sense of disbelief. For many, survival

[1:25] is not just daytoday. It's hour to hour.

[1:29] They've been coming here for days,

[1:31] hoping, begging in some cases to get on

[1:33] a bus out of New Orleans. But here they

[1:36] remain.

[1:37] >> I've never been through nothing like

[1:38] this in my life. This is ridiculous

[1:41] hell.

[1:42] Purity hell.

[1:44] >> The scene is the same at the Super Dome.

[1:46] WE WON'T HELP.

[1:48] >> WE WON'T HELP.

[1:50] >> Young and old, desperate to get out of

[1:52] the city now underwater before it's too

[1:54] late.

[1:55] >> New Orleans is hot. We can't take this.

[1:57] We've been out here for 3 days.

[1:59] >> They want to get out of there just as

[2:01] badly as we want to get them out of

[2:02] there.

[2:03] >> Evacuating the infirm has been an even

[2:05] slower process. With no power or

[2:07] medicine, the sickest are left to die.

[2:10] >> It's not been easy for the staff because

[2:12] we're really doing, you know, minimal

[2:14] care right here.

[2:17] More than 4,000 National Guard troops

[2:20] are in New Orleans with thousands more

[2:21] on the way to help bring order to the

[2:23] chaos.

[2:26] >> The fortunate few who have been

[2:27] transported out of the hardest hit areas

[2:30] are starting to arrive at Houston's

[2:31] Astradome. There is power and running

[2:34] water here, something evacuees haven't

[2:36] seen for days. Meanwhile, the Army Corps

[2:38] of Engineers has begun tackling the

[2:40] enormous task of repairing levies

[2:42] breached by Katrina's storm surge.

[2:47] So many have seen so much from here in

[2:50] New Orleans where homes are now

[2:52] matchticks to the Louisiana Superdome

[2:55] where people have witnessed murder and

[2:57] rape. A lot of people aren't talking

[2:59] about rebuilding, they're talking about

[3:02] escape. Gloria Riviera, ABC News,

[3:05] Gulfport, Mississippi.

[3:06] >> Gloria, thank you very much for that. As

[3:08] parts of New Orleans descend into

[3:10] anarchy, Oregon Governor Ted Kulingowski

[3:12] will send 107 military police to help

[3:14] restore order. K2's Paul Booker is live

[3:17] at the Oregon National Guard base in

[3:18] Northeast Portland. And Paul, when do

[3:20] these MPs leave? Well, they'll be

[3:21] gathering here at 9:00 tomorrow morning

[3:23] right here at the Jackson Armory. Then

[3:25] they'll be heading off to New Orleans,

[3:28] Louisiana. They are part of a National

[3:30] Guard that is stretched but still doing

[3:32] its job.

[3:34] >> Vernon Joan, how are you? Governor Ted

[3:36] Kulingowski spends part of his day

[3:38] checking out free school supplies for

[3:40] Portland students and teachers. The

[3:42] other part of his day, he's on the phone

[3:44] answering a request from the Louisiana

[3:46] Governor's Office.

[3:47] >> I approve uh the deployment of the

[3:49] 1186th Military Police Unit.

[3:53] These are the military police of Salem's