Katrina survivors visit wrecked homes

NEW ORLEANS - Thousands of residents of suburban New Orleans have returned to inspect homes wrecked by Hurricane Katrina.

While people began to go back to outlying areas, police said New Orleans itself, the home of jazz and Mardi Gras, should stay out of bounds.

"We advise people that this city has been destroyed, it has completely been destroyed," said Deputy Police Chief Warren Riley.

In suburban Jefferson Parish, stunned residents got their first glimpse of the damage wrought by Katrina when it struck Louisiana with 225 km per hour winds and a massive storm surge.

They were greeted by a panorama of toppled trees and street signs, and spacious middle-class homes that had been flooded with several feet of water.

"I try to be upbeat but it's devastating. I may lose my house because I may not be able to make my payments, and I don't know when I'm going to work again," said Mark Becker, 48, at his Metairie home.

Storm winds had ripped two holes in his roof and caused the ceiling to collapse in a bedroom and kitchen.

Others said the damage could have been worse. They said their homes were mostly intact and salvageable.

Many of those going back brought guns or friends or both for protection in case they encountered looters.

The Jefferson Parish government urged its residents not to stay in their homes, but to gather items they needed and leave by nightfall because power and water had not been restored.

The search for storm victims went on as rescuers in boats, helicopters and military vehicles went house to house looking for people still stranded a week after Katrina blew through, causing massive flooding and destruction.

Pressed to give an estimate of the death toll, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin told NBC's Today Show that a figure of 10,000 "wouldn't be unreasonable".

Many of the dead were not hard to find. Swollen bodies floated in flooded streets and police advised passers-by to steer clear.

- REUTERS