The lead players in dealing with the Hurricane Katrina disaster. From left to right: President George W. Bush, Louisiana Governer Kathleen Blanco, (Former) FEMA Director Michael Brown, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and (Former) New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass
September 1~ Fire And Flood
The situation continued to deteriorate on Thursday, September 1. Fires began breaking out across the city. A number of fires were left to burn themselves out, since many areas were inaccessible and firefighters had little water pressure to use on the blazes. The full-scale massive migration of the remaining residents continued, with the crowd at the Superdome swelling to over 25,000. Chaos reigned at the government level in response to the disaster. Finally in the afternoon of September 1, the first trickle of military troops entered the city, which had descended into lawlessness and despair. Caravans of buses arrived after 4 days to finally start evacuating the estimated 100,000 remaining residents from the city.
Fire breaks out near the Superdome on September 1
Finally, after 4 days, a military presence began to trickle into New Orleans
Stranded residents took to the unflooded highway overpasses in search of a way out of the city
Evacuees filled the highway overpasses waiting for transport from New Orleans
People used whatever means they had available to reach the highway overpasses for evacuation
Huge crowds mobbed the evacuation buses as military helicopters flew overhead, creating a surreal scene
| Thousands of people gathered at the Convention Center and survived in squalor for days until help arrived | 
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A number of people died at the Convention Center while awaiting evacuation
| More than 25,000 people gather in front of the Superdome waiting for buses to evacuate them from New Orleans | 
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On September 1, roof-top rescues continued throughout the city