Nightline on Labor Day: Koppel in NOLA

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In Katrina's Wake

Sept. 5, 2005

As search and rescue teams fan out across the enormous area of Hurricane Katrina's destructive path, the grim mission of recovering the dead has begun. The mayor of New Orleans predicts thousands lost their lives. And in New Orleans, some residents who never evacuated are refusing to leave, while others in Jefferson Parish get to return to survey the damage to their homes for the first time since the storm. As of this writing, Ted Koppel has been touring the region with the U.S. 1st Cavalry, and we'll have his reports and impressions of the scene tonight. He saw big progress on repairing the main levee that was breached, the levee that has caused most of the flooding.


In a Best Buy parking lot near New Orleans, Ted finds a poignant act of generosity from a Kentucky town. The Kentucky residents were so moved by all the media coverage of the human tragedy that they joined together and went shopping at a local Walmart. They piled goods into a caravan of cars and headed to New Orleans to help out. It took 24 hours to get there, unload the supplies and they're heading back for another run.

And Dave Marash has been to a community devastated by the storm, but few - in the media or emergency services - have reached it yet. Few resources have made their way into this small town, and the mayor is figuring out how to help its residents on her own. Bogalusa, Louisiana: a forgotten place takes care of itself.

Ted Koppel anchors from New Orleans. We hope you'll join us.

Gerry Holmes and the "Nightline" staff
Senior Producer
ABC News Washington Bureau