CINDY SHEEHAN, JENSEN WALKER

photo by Jensen Walker


I wanted to be honest with my images but in all honesty I also needed to appeal to a market and the way people wanted to see this struggle.

c Jensen Walker

NOLA, MARIO TAMA

New Orleans has settled into a sort of controlled chaos, National Guard soldiers patrol the streets and bang on doors as different neighborhoods open up daily due to sharply decreasing floodwaters.



What was yesterday an impassable urban swamp is today a debris filled road caked in mud.



Very few holdouts remain and those who do seem to be tiring of the isolation. David Jackson Jr., 82, is rescued by New Orleans DEA agents after being trapped in his home in the heavily damaged ninth ward

Canal Street has become a massive staging are for media and military, downtown feels occupied and soulless.

Let's hope the natives return soon.

c Mario Tama
photos by Mario Tama/ Getty Images


Holdout Kevin Hanson bathes in the murky pool of a partially destroyed gay club that now serves as the de facto community center in New Orleans. Hanson occasionally puts chlorine in the pool in an attempt to keep it clean. A group of holdouts in the community have banded together following Hurricane Katrina as they vow to remain in New Orleans despite orders to evacuate. Most in the community feel they are better off staying in their neighborhood than in a faraway shelter.


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GETTY IMAGES

aftermath: CHRIS HONDROS

It's truly massive down here--it's an old cliche, but it's hard to comprehend unless you see it for yourself. Yesterday I was driving down Interstate 10 in downtown New Orleans (in the wrong direction) and had to stop when a massive Chinook helicopter landed in front of me on the highway, picked up some supplies, and took off again. Just beyond belief to see such a thing here in the States in a major city.

Chris Hondros

NEW ORLEANS

photo c Scott Reed/USAF

11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, GULF COAST

The Marines of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's had just settled into a long Labor Day weekend when they got the call to mount up and left in waves a few days later for a disaster stricken land.

It wasn't in Iraq, Africa or any other far corner of the world. No, they went off to provide relief and humanitarian assistance for the part of their homeland that was struck recently by Hurricane Katrina.

These photos are the work of military photographers assigned to the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard who are covering the military response to this disaster scene.




Navy Search and Rescue (SAR) Swimmer Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 1st Class1 Scott Chun secures a victim of Hurricane Katrina pulled from a rooftop in New Orleans into an SH-60B Seahawk. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Jay C. Pugh

U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Scott Reed

U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate First Class (AW) Brien Aho, Fleet Combat Camera, Atlantic

Swimmer Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 1st Class1 Tim Hawkins retrieves and evacuates a victim of Hurricane Katrina from a rooftop in New Orleans into an SH-60B Seahawk. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Jay C. Pugh.

U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. John M. Foster

Refugees on board a C-17 Globemaster. The 15th Airlift Squadron (U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. John M. Foster)






U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. John M. Foster

A young survivor of Hurricane Katrina hugs her rescuer Pararescuemen Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Mike Maroney (left) from the 58th Rescue Squadron, Nellis AFB, after being relocated to the New Orleans International Airport. U.S. Air Force Photo by A1C Veronica Pierce

US DOD MULTIMEDIA

MORE PHOTOS

Any Improvement? Mario Tama, New Orleans

The situation did improve as the powers that be finally got their act together and evacuated most of the stranded, practically overnight. The airport became a de facto field hospital/clearinghouse for the leftovers from the storm. We were allowed to photograph evacuees, many of whom were on the verge of death, being loaded onto C-130's destined for points unknown. Evacuations continue for the stranded all over New Orleans, many from the elevated highways which serve as the peaks of the city.
c Mario Tama, Getty Images








PHOTOS BY MARIO TAMA/ GETTY IMAGES
EMAIL MARIO TAMA

family, Matt Hevezi

Here is a photo to break up the gloom. This is my No. 2 son Nicholas (right) and his summertime buddy Christian. We went to the park yesterday and these guys looked pretty cool in the afternoon light.

photo by Matt Hevezi

Hope everybody can find some time this weekend to enjoy either yourself, your family or friends ... at some level.


Sometimes it helps to just go goof off for a day or two. There are always friends, and family out there waiting for us to pause so they can enjoy our other-than-PJ qualities.

c Matt Hevezi

NEW ORLEANS, MARIO TAMA

The situation ostensibly improved today as countless busloads were evacuated from the Superdome and thousands more National Guard troops arrived. In reality, the situation has not improved drastically. Tens of thousands still remain stranded at the convention center while corpses continue to pile up. A visit to the Superdome today was like a descent into Hell, the place literally smells of death. A body floated in the water beneath the stadium as people seemed to rot away inside.
c Mario Tama

Mary Ann Dixon (R) weeps as she hears that she will be separated from her children on buses leaving the Superdome September 2, 2005 in New Orleans. Dixon was later reunited with her children and allowed to travel with them on the same bus. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)








Photos by
Mario Tama/Getty Images

HURRICANE KATRINA AFTERMATH, MARIO TAMA

We are filing from a landline at a local pub in the French Quarter which opens for us sporadically.

The situation feels very Third World with refugees, no food or water aid, dead bodies in the street, corrupt police, looting, fires...We had a cop try to take our gas the other day claiming "national emergency". Some photogs have been robbed, but the majority of the looting has been out of desperation. As one guy said to me, "We aint looting, we're surviving."

c Mario Tama / Getty Images


A girl carries clothes as her family waits for assistance after being rescued from their home in high water after Hurricane Katrina August 31, 2005 in New Orleans. Dozens of people in the area say they were rescued from their homes yesterday but were then abandoned on the roadway with no food, water, or health care.



A man is placed in an Army truck filled with survivors rescued from their homes
Daryl Thompson holds his daughter Dejanae, 3 months, as they wait with other displaced residents on a highway in the hopes of catching a ride out of town