If the estimates that the death toll could go into the thousands prove true, that would make Katrina the deadliest natural disaster in the United States since at least the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. As Bush spoke, the Pentagon said the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi have ordered the mobilization of an additional 10,000 National Guard troops to provide security and help with hurricane relief. The latest deployments will double the number of National Guard troops in the area. According to the commander of the National Guard, fully one-third of the 21,000 troops will be used to prevent looting, enforce curfews and bolster local law enforcement. According to the Pentagon, 7,200 active duty military troops were responding to the disaster. Meanwhile, some 3 million people in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida remain without electricity. President Bush ordered Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff to coordinate a massive recovery campaign that could take years to complete.

• Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security:
  “Truckloads of water, ice, meals, medical supplies, generators, tents, and tarpaulins. There are currently over 1700 trailer trucks, which have been mobilized to move these supplies into position. The coast guard has worked heroically for the last 48 hours rescuing or assisting well more than 1000 people who were in distress and held high and dry above the flood waters.”