Seven-tonne sandbags

The US Army Corps of Engineers will continue its efforts to plug the gaps in New Orleans's storm defences today, this time using bags of sand and stone that weigh nearly seven tonnes. Chinook helicopters will drop the 6,750kg (15,000lb) bags into the main 150-metre gap that has opened in the 17th Street Canal floodwall.

So far, the breach has swallowed up all the sandbags and concrete that have been thrown at it. Today the Army said that it was having trouble getting sandbags and dozens of concrete barriers to the site because the city’s waterways were blocked by loose barges, boats and large debris.

Oil refineries closed for months

Some oil refineries damaged by Hurricane Katrina may be able to restart operations within one to two weeks, but others make take "several months" to restart, the Energy Information Administration said today.

"Unlike 2004’s Hurricane Ivan, which affected oil production facilities and had a lasting impact on crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, it appears that Hurricane Katrina may have a more lasting impact on refinery production and the distribution system," the EIA said.

According to Reuters, nine major oil refineries in Louisiana and Mississippi remain closed after the storm. The plants account about 11 percent of America's total refining capacity. Petrol prices jumped to $5 a gallon in Atlanta, Georgia, on the news.

Superdome to Astrodome: interrupted

The evacuation of more than 20,000 people from the New Orleans Superdome to the Houston Astrodome, another stadium in Texas, was disrupted today when a shot was fired at a helicopter airlifting vulnerable survivors from the scene.

The loading of survivors into 500 buses, some of which have already reached Texas, continued, but the airlift stopped. "We won’t go into the Superdome landing zone until security is restored," said Richard Zuschlag, who was running the flights.

As the ground evacuation continued, residents of New Orleans who have spent days in fetid, unsanitary conditions, showed their impatience and swarmed in angry crowds on to the buses. Paramedics and National Guard volunteers at the stadium are said to be unsettled by fires burning nearby and the many firearms that survivors are carrying.

Meanwhile, the first busloads of survivors arrived in Texas, where 25,000 cots, as well as food and medical supplies have been laid out in the city's 40-year-old football stadium. Confusion remains over whether the Houston Astrodome will only accept people who sought shelter at the Superdome.

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