An emergency military convoy of aid supplies arrived in New Orleans today to help in the relief of tens of thousands of refugees made desperate in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Broadcast images on live television showed a long train of military vehicles loaded with crates making their way through flooded streets.
The convoy arrived an entire four days after the storm devastated the south coast.
Looters around New Orleans spent another day yesterday threatening survivors and ransacking stores. Some were desperate for food - others just wanted beer and TVs.
The risk to safety prompted Mayor Ray Nagin to order virtually all the city's 1,500 police officers to leave their search-and-rescue mission and return to the streets to stop the thefts that turned more hostile as the city plunged deeper into chaos.
"They are starting to get closer to heavily populated areas - hotels, hospitals, and we're going to stop it right now," Nagin said.
Amid the turmoil, thieves commandeered a forklift and used it to push up the storm shutters and break the glass of a Rite-Aid pharmacy. A crowd stormed the store, carrying out so much water and food that it dropped from their arms as they ran.
The street was littered with packages of noodles and other items.
Some outside the same Rite-Aid store today were anxious to show they needed what they were taking. A grey-haired man who would not give his name pulled up his T-shirt to show a surgery scar and explained that he needs pads for incontinence.
"I'm a Christian . I feel bad going in there," he said.
Earl Baker of Kenner carried toothpaste, tooth brushes and deodorant. "Look, I'm only getting necessities," he told a reporter. "All of this is personal hygiene. I ain't getting nothing to get drunk or high with."
New Orleans ' homeland security chief, Terry Ebbert, said looters were breaking into stores all over town and stealing guns. He said there are gangs of armed men moving around the city. At one point, officers stranded on the roof of a hotel were fired at by people on the street.
Authorities said another officer was shot in the head and a looter was wounded in a shoot-out. Both were expected to survive.
Looters also chased down a state police truck full of food. The New Orleans police chief ran off looters while city officials themselves were commandeering equipment from a looted Office Depot. During a state of emergency, authorities have broad powers to take private supplies and buildings for their use.
Agencies