A massive military convoy has arrived in New Orleans, carrying food, water and the prospect of rescue for tens of thousands of people who remain stranded in a city that has become increasingly lawless since Hurricane Katrina struck five days ago.
The troops' arrival in New Orleans yesterday was the first sign that the authorities are determined to assert control over the city after four nights of looting and violence that halted rescue efforts.
The soldiers have been ordered to restore order to the streets and to ensure that food and water reaches those who need it while the evacuation of the city gains pace.
Kathleen Blanco, the Democrat governor of Louisiana, threatened looters with a shoot-to-kill policy. "These troops are battle-tested. They have M16s and are locked and loaded," she said. "These troops know how to shoot and kill and I expect they will."
As President Bush arrived last night in the region amid sharp criticism of his handling of the crisis, one Republican senator predicted the death toll in Louisiana alone could top 10,000 people.
Calling for the immediate deployment of regular combat troops in New Orleans, David Vitter, a Louisiana senator said: "My guess is that it [ the death toll] will start at 10,000, but that is only a guess." He said this estimate was not based on any official death toll or body count.
Even before he left Washington, Mr Bush was forced to admit that the relief effort had been inadequate: "The results are not acceptable," he said.
President Bush visited the towns most badly hit by the hurricane, promising that the federal government would improve the rescue effort and restore order. "The people of this country expect there to be law and order, and we're going to work hard to get it. In order to make sure there's less violence, we've got to get food to people. We'll get on top of this situation," he said.
In Biloxi, Mississippi, a small coastal town that was almost wiped out by the storm, Mr Bush hugged survivors, telling them that a $10.5 billion (€8.4 billion) emergency aid package approved by Congress yesterday was "just the beginning" of the federal funds that would help to rebuild the region.
Truckloads of food, water and medical provisions rolled through New Orleans' still-flooded streets yesterday to the Convention Centre and the Superdome, where tens of thousands of hungry, tired and terrified people have taken shelter.
It was confirmed, however, that rhythm and blues musician Fats Domino, earlier reported missing, was safe and well.
The mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, warned that many more people could die in New Orleans unless relief came more quickly. "The people of our city are holding on by a thread. Time has run out. Can we survive another night? And who can we depend on? Only God knows," he said.
Mr Nagin said that 50,000 people were still stranded in New Orleans and that the city was in danger of running out of drinking water.
The president rejected charges that US military commitments in Iraq had slowed down the rescue effort because fewer National Guard soldiers were available to help. "We've got plenty of resources to do both," he said.
Former Republican house speaker Newt Gingrich warned that the sluggish response to Katrina suggested that America was not prepared for a major terrorist attack.
"I think it puts into question all of the Homeland Security and Northern Command planning for the last four years, because if we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?" he said.
Some black leaders also condemned the slow response, claiming that poor and mostly black storm victims in New Orleans were bearing the brunt of the suffering.
"We cannot allow it to be said by history that the difference between those who lived and those who died in this great storm and flood of 2005 was nothing more than poverty, age or skin colour," said Rep Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat and former head of the Congressional Black Caucus.
"Many of these Americans who are struggling to survive are Americans of colour," Mr Cummings told a news conference. "Their cries for assistance confront America with a test of our moral compass as a nation."
Rep William Jefferson, a black Democrat who represents most of New Orleans, told the MSNBC cable network. "If these people hadn't been poor and black, they wouldn't have been left in New Orleans in the first place."