Quiet After the Storm

The relief effort has been focused on the living until now, but will probably change now that most of the people have been evacuated. There has been no place to put the deceased, so many are left in the water.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

More members of the National Guard arrived on Saturday to help in the relief effort. All of the people staying at the New Orleans Convention Center were evacuated, leaving the streets empty there.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Six days after the hurricane Katrina, thousands of people were evacuated from the New Orleans Convention Center leaving only empty chairs and trash.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Al Jordana, age 45, a longshoreman, found a canoe which he has been using to visit his friends still inside their homes in Mid City New Orleans. Some residents are refusing to leave the city despite the efforts of officials and volunteers.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Many of the streets of downtown New Orleans are still flooded six days after the hurricane hit.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Frank Escorcia, 53, dries out in the back of a pickup truck surrounded by water in the Mid City area of New Orleans. Despite the best efforts of officials, some people refuse to leave the city, unsure what their future will be.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

A young girl sleeps across two chairs in the street in front of the Convention Center. Conditions have been very rough for the thousands of people staying there for the past six days.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Milvirtha Herndricks, age 85-years-old, has no option but to wait for help at the New Orleans Convention Center, where thousands of people have been stranded for six days. Ms. Hendricks was finally evacuated from the area on Saturday, almost one week since the storm hit.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Members of the Arkansas National Guard catch a little rest in the loading area of the New Orleans Convention Center, where thousands of people took refuge.  (Robert Gauthier / LAT)

HELP AT HAND: Nita LaGarde, 105, leaves New Orleans’ convention center with her nurse’s granddaughter, Tanisha Blevin, 5. Before coming to the shelter, they huddled in an attic and on an interstate island. Helicopters evacuated the elderly, infirm and infants. About 1,000 people remain.  (Eric Gay / AP)

Survivor Larry Straub, 44, weeps after he was rescued from the town of Chalmette, Louisiana. Survivors clung to hope and little else while they waited six days to be rescued.  (Mark Boster / LAT)

Evacuees sleep in chairs inside the New Orleans Convention Center, where thousands of residents and tourists have been stranded in the days following Hurricane Katrina.  (Robert Gauthier / LAT)

“World We Need Help” is written on a rooftop in a New Orleans neighborhood.  (Gina Ferazzi / LAT)