Chaos holds up New Orleans relief

Hurricane Katrina relief efforts are being held up in New Orleans as the city descends into chaos, with reports of widespread stealing and shooting.

People waiting to get out of the city say they need to steal from shops in order to survive, as they don't have food or clean water.

Efforts to get sick people out of the Superdome stadium were held up when a gun was fired at a rescue helicopter.

President Bush has said there will be "zero tolerance" for lawbreakers.

Click here to see pics of the impact of the storm

Around 100,000 people are still stuck in New Orleans, and the city mayor has ordered every single person to leave.

Many people have already spent days on rooftops waiting to be rescued, and hundreds or even thousands are thought to have drowned.

Help sent to Gulf coast 28,000 soldiers in region to help 5.4m pre-cooked meals 13.4m litres of water 1,700 trucks filled with essential supplies More than 1,000 search and rescue personnel Floating hospital ship USNS Comfort

President Bush cut short his holiday by two days to help organise the recovery effort, and will visit the area on Friday.

He's called Hurricane Katrina "one of the worst natural disasters" ever to hit the US, and the government has declared a public health emergency along the Gulf coast.

More than a million people were evacuated from New Orleans before Katrina hit the city on Monday.

Thousands stranded

An off-shore casino was moved to a car park

There is no electricity and food and fresh water are running out fast.

Some of those waiting to be evacuated include thousands of patients and staff from nine hospitals, and at least 7,600 prison inmates.

Officials in the state of Mississippi so far have confirmed 110 people have been killed, but are worried that number will rise.

Harrison County there was one of the areas worst-hit by Hurricane Katrina, with Gulfport and Biloxi very badly damaged.