President Bush, who surveyed the devastated coast from his Air Force One aircraft, has promised federal help. In a prepared statement, the President has warned that it will take America years to recover. 'The country stands with you,' he has said.
The irony is, those meant to hear his words of support probably won't, as they remain without electricity.
Even as a massive rescue effort is underway, hundreds of desperate people have been seen leaving the state, carrying all they can manage in shopping carts. There is no water, electricity, food or sanitation. New Orleans is, at least for now, completely uninhabitable.
Photograph: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images