Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth -- -- The commander of the Marine Forces Reserve visited areas severely affected by Hurricane Katrina on Sunday.
Lt. Gen. John W. Bergman flew over affected areas and met with troops on the ground to discuss the steps that are being taken to give much needed relief to the greater New Orleans area.
"Right now the only order for anyone is to help people in need," Bergman said."Citizens left in the city are in a dangerous position and we will do everything in our power to ensure their safety."
Bergman flew over the city, landing in several spots key to Marine Forces Reserve personnel to get a first hand look at what is quickly becoming, in terms of lives and property, one of the costliest disasters to hit the United States.
Trees are uprooted or snapped in half over the entire gulf south; homes are flooded or have been completely demolished by gail force winds and high storm surge. Some sections of New Orleans were totally destroyed, while others were built high enough to escape major damage,said Bergman.
The water in the city is still up to the eves of most houses in the Lakeview, Ninth Ward, and New Orleans East neighborhoods, but the levees are being repaired by the Army Corps of Engineers.
To drain the city of the toxic waters poisoned with chemicals and sewage, the levees need to be patched where breeched, only then can the pumps begin to be effective in cleaning the city, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin said in an earlier press conference.
Bergman went on from New Orleans to the Stenis Space Center where he met with Major General O' Dell, the commander of Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Katrina (SPMAGTF-Katrina).
Bergman and O'Dell met to discuss the placement of troops and the Marines' ability to support other operations in the affected regions, also sites for landing zones and possible locations for housing the vast number of troops expected to entering the area soon.
Bergman said that the first and foremost goal of the Marines and other branches of the Armed Forces is to find and rescue victims still stranded in the city with all available recovery and rescue teams.
The logistics of getting Marines in and out of the area are tough, but it will not stand in the way. Everything that we can do will be done, Bergman and O'Dell agreed.
"Supplies for the effort will be brought in by all branches of the armed services and we will work together to overcome the problems caused by hurricane Katrina," Bergman said.