U.S. News and National Top Stories : NPR

Katrina & Beyond

Leaving New Orleans for the First Time

August 31, 2005 • The topography of New Orleans is central to its current woes. Collette Creppell is an architect at Tulane University and a former New Orleans city planner from an old New Orleanian family. Creppell and most of her relatives evacuated the city Saturday before Katrina hit -- the first time she's ever been forced out by a hurricane. She said it was a tough decision to make.

Leaving New Orleans for the First Time

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School Buses Run Up High Fuel Bills

August 31, 2005 • School buses are rolling on the first day of school in Oxford County, Maine, but the district has banned field trips and told drivers they may not idle their engines. Even with these fuel-saving measures, school officials are reeling from the high cost of diesel in Maine and around the nation. Charlotte Albright of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network reports.

School Buses Run Up High Fuel Bills

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Katrina & Beyond

Looting Spreads Through New Orleans

August 31, 2005 • As police and other emergency officials focus on rescue and evacuation efforts in New Orleans, reports of widespread looting continue. Robert Siegel talks with Erika Balstad of The Miami Herald, who is in New Orleans, about the looting. She says some of it has been for survival, and some was simply theft. The police presence is expected to increase.

Looting Spreads Through New Orleans

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Katrina & Beyond

Relief Agency: Maintain Evacuation

August 31, 2005 • There is an array of federal departments handling various aspects of the hurricane emergency. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is coordinating efforts to provide housing, medical and other needs. He is urging people who evacuated early not to return to the affected regions, which he describes as very dangerous.

Relief Agency: Maintain Evacuation

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Katrina & Beyond

Massive Aid Effort Under Way for Katrina Victims

August 31, 2005 • The effort to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina is one of the largest in U.S. history. Those trapped in New Orleans have lost water pressure and are searching for food. The Pentagon has mobilized 21,000 National Guardsmen, and Navy ships are heading to the area.

Massive Aid Effort Under Way for Katrina Victims

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Katrina & Beyond

Dark Days In Evacuated New Orleans

August 31, 2005 • Robert Siegel talks to New Orleans resident George Schmidt. Schmidt made it to Monroe, La., before Katrina hit. From a friend's house there, he says he has been watching images of flooding and looting in the city where he is an artist, a gallery owner, a singer and a banjo player.

Dark Days In Evacuated New Orleans

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Katrina & Beyond

Defying Gravity, and Odds, in New Orleans

August 31, 2005 • In a great disaster, victims are first concerned with their basic needs: food - clothing -- shelter -- medical care. Those are the essential things necessary for human life. But commentator Aaron Freeman says the flood in New Orleans shows a more essential force is at work.

Defying Gravity, and Odds, in New Orleans

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Your Money

Retirement: Timing Is Everything

August 31, 2005 • With the oldest baby-boomers nearing retirement age, NPR explores some of the questions that surround retirement, beginning with how to pay for it. NPR's Scott Horsley begins our series with a profile of the Baker family of Orange County, Calif. John Baker is about to turn 65. His wife, Christine, is 61; they are both are looking forward to a time when they can take it easy.

Retirement: Timing Is Everything

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Law

ACLU Seeks Details of Library Records Request

August 31, 2005 • The American Civil Liberties Union asks a judge to allow the release of the name of a Connecticut library from which federal agents sought patron records. The agents invoked a law that forbids the library to reveal the demand for records.

ACLU Seeks Details of Library Records Request

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Bush Sees Katrina Damage on Way to Capital

August 31, 2005 • Returning to Washington, President Bush witnesses the devastation from Hurricane Katrina as he flies over the Gulf Coast in Air Force One. The president ended his August vacation two days early to take charge of the federal response to Katrina. Don Gonyea reports on the what's at stake politically for Bush in addressing this disaster.

Bush Sees Katrina Damage on Way to Capital

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Katrina & Beyond

Thousands Feared Dead in New Orleans

August 31, 2005 • In New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin says Hurricane Katrina has taken the lives of hundreds -- and most likely thousands -- of people in the city. Efforts to repair breached levees and floodwalls have been unsuccessful as a massive evacuation continues.

Thousands Feared Dead in New Orleans

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News

New Orleans Mayor Cites High Death Toll

August 31, 2005 • Hurricane Katrina killed "hundreds" and possibly "thousands" of people in New Orleans, Mayor Ray Negrin says. He also estimates the city won't have electricity for at least three months. The official death toll from the storm so far is 110, based on known deaths in Mississippi only.

The Latest on Katrina Recovery Efforts

August 31, 2005 • Host Neal Conan continues coverage of Katrina's aftermath with stories from those most affected by the storm and resulting flooding, plus from newspaper, magazine and NPR reporters in the area.

The Latest on Katrina Recovery Efforts

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Education

Back to School: The Secret Life of College Students

August 31, 2005 • For many people, going off to college is an important coming-of-age experience in U.S. culture. It's a time for young people to assert their independence and learn about the world. But these days, college life is often plagued with cheating, alcohol abuse and other issues. What are — and aren't — your kids telling you about campus life?

Back to School: The Secret Life of College Students

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Immediate Priorities Post-Katrina

August 31, 2005 • The search and rescue continues after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Looting is rampant; New Orleans tries to stem its flooding; and the thousands living in the Superdome begin the move to the Houston Astrodome.

Immediate Priorities Post-Katrina

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