ONE week after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region, residents began to return to New Orleans amid warnings from the mayor that 10,000 people may have died.

WITH the death toll expected to surge into the thousands in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the blame game has escalated among local and federal politicians struggling to come to terms with the desperately slow disaster response across the Gulf of Mexico coast.

One week after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region, miles-long lines of vehicles crawled into suburban New Orleans today as residents were allowed to return to salvage what was left of their homes. New Orleans’ mayor warned that 10,000 people may have died.