"As federal officials tried to get some control over the deteriorating situation in New Orleans, chaos was being replaced with bureaucratic rules that inhibited private relief organizations' efforts.
'We've tried desperately to rescue 250 people trapped in a Salvation Army facility. They've been trapped in there since the flood came in. Many are on dialysis machines,' said Maj. George Hood, national communications secretary for the relief organization.
'Yesterday we rented big fan boats to pull them out and the National Guard would not let us enter the city,' he said. The reason: a new plan to evacuate the embattled city grid by grid - and the Salvation Army's facility didn't fall in the right grid that day, Hood said in a telephone interview from Jackson, Miss.
'No, it doesn't make sense,' he said.
The Salvation Army, along with the American Red Cross and other relief organizations, is supplying meals to refugees in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. But Hood said good supply lines to keep relief stations stocked with bottled water, food and gas still haven't been established.
'The problem is we're running out of food and supplies, and getting replacement food and supplies in here is a big problem,' he said. 'The infrastructure is clogged.' "
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