To the Point

In the Wake of Hurricane Katrina, a Growing Disaster

In New Orleans, officials say the water finally has stopped rising. The federal government is opening oil reserves, relaxing environmental standards for refining gasoline, and opening medical facilities -- as many as 40 will be set up with some 4,000 people staffing them. Despite the order to evacuate New Orleans, many people remained--either by choice or necessity. Hundreds of thousands of evacuees are stranded in six southern states in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Many have no place to go. In Louisiana and Mississippi, rescues are still going on and the death tolls are rising. Can broken levees be repaired in New Orleans? What about damage to the environment? We hear from some of the areas hardest hit about human cost, property damage, and the prospects of bailing out. Reporter-s Notebook: Supreme Court Nominee John Roberts Next Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin hearings on Judge John Roberts, President Bush-s nominee to the US Supreme Court. It-s not clear that there will be partisan fireworks, but the elements are there. As a lawyer and appellate court judge, Roberts has been described as highly intelligent, extremely well prepared and unflappable. He-ll need all those qualities when he faces the Senate. We get a preview of what to expect from legal experts Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way, Cass Sunstein of the University of Chicago Law School and Hadley Arkes of Amherst College.