Barbara Bush looks on the bright side

Barbara Bush, the former First Lady and wife of George Bush Snr, who is leading the fundraising effort for victims of Hurricane Katrina with Bill Clinton, might in future prefer to let money do the talking.

On an upbeat tour of the Houston Astrodome today, where thousands of refugees from New Orleans have found emergency shelter and medical help, Mrs Bush said she thought things could have been a lot worse.

"So many of the people here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them," she told National Public Radio. "What I’m hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality."

The President's mother seemed vindicated, in a way, by a decision to then postpone the moving of thousands of evacuees onto two cruise ships in Houston. Officials had planned to begin moving about 4,000 refugees from the Astrodome but many refused to go. "The dome is home for them," said a spokesman.

Dark waters could cause second disaster

Environmental officials gave warning today that the floodwaters of New Orleans, stagnant and dark with disease, could cause a second natural disaster as they are pumped out of the city.

As the pumping of the waters began today, sewage and water quality experts expressed fears that the murky torrents could kill fish and poison delicate wetlands along the Gulf Coast.

Gasoline, diesel, anti-freeze, bleach, human waste, acids, alcohols, dead bodies and heavy metals are all thought to have seeped into the floodwaters, which witnesses say are gloomy and impenetrable.

Rodney Mallett, a spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, told Reuters today that the agency was fearful of the consequences of the pumping, but that it had no choice. "We’re not happy about it," said Mr Mallett. "But for the sake of civilization and lives, probably the best thing to do is pump the water out."

Open all disasters

In the upside down world of flooded New Orleans, a few bars in the French Quarter of the city have provided islands of civilization, staying open for the last eight days as the waters rose, fires burned and looters looted.

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