ED GORDON, host: From NPR News, this is NEWS & NOTES.  I'm Ed Gordon.</s>ED GORDON, host: As the losses from Hurricane Katrina increased, President Bush returned      from vacation to the White House.  After surveying the Gulf Coast region      from the air, the president pledged massive federal aid to the area.  As      he ordered emergency medical food and shelter resources to the region,      the president also appealed for patience.</s>ED GORDON, host: President GEORGE W. BUSH:  We are focusing on restoring power and lines      of communication that have been knocked out during the storm.  We'll be      repairing major roads and bridges and other essential means of      transportation as quickly as possible.  There's a lot of work we're going      to have to do.</s>ED GORDON, host: Part of that work involves cleaning out the Crescent City.  New      Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin estimates that thousands of residents may have      perished.  The city continues to languish without basic services and      looters have become increasingly violent.
Ed Gordon surveys damage along the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Katrina and the federal response. Looting and flooding continue in New Orleans as authorities begin to move survivors from the Superdome to the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, more than 300 miles away.