Rescue workers have begun evacuating Hurricane Katrina survivors from a New Orleans stadium, as hundreds of police deploy across the city to stop looting.
Thousands of people were being taken by bus from the Superdome overnight Thursday to Houston, some 500 kilometers away.
A spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency told CNN television that helicopters also are taking critically injured survivors from the stadium to a hospital in Baton Rouge.
Meanwhile, police have deployed in New Orleans to stop looters, who have been stealing food, water and other goods from stores abandoned since Hurricane Katrina hit.
President Bush said it will take years to recover from the storm, calling it one of the worst natural disasters in the nation's history.
He said authorities are helping to evacuate anyone remaining in New Orleans, and they are moving tons of food, water, generators and other supplies into affected areas.
Mr. Bush also promised to help restore power and water supplies, and rebuild bridges and roads destroyed by the storm in the Gulf of Mexico.