By Brian ThevenotStaff writer

In front of the Convention Center onSaturday, amid a crowd of refugees weep-ing and trading stories of raped childrenand dead babies in freezers, an elderlywoman in a yellow shirt lay near death,tremors coursing through her limbs.

Afew minutes later, she stopped shaking.And yet, in that hell, Anita Roach

raised her voice to the heavens, belting outthe gospel standards that had comfortedher since childhood: through homeless-ness, through friendlessness, through thedeath of her son and through the flood thatnearly killed her and her husband in theirLower 9th Ward home.

"When the stormOf life is raging,Stand by me, stand by me..."Five days after Hurricane Katrina, as

National Guardsmen and evacuation busesfinally pulled onto Tchoupitoulas Street ablock away, Roach stood out as a beaconof beauty and strength against a backdropof death and despair. As she began to sing,a group of over-stressed National Guards-men carted away the nearby woman’s

newly dead body to put it with many oth-ers. First they placed her body on thestreet corner, then carried it through anemployee entrance guarded by machineguns and laid her to rest in a freezer.

Roach never stopped singing, neverstopped smiling, never stopped comfort-ing a crowd of some of the last of Hurri-cane Katrina’s victims to receive even ashred of assistance. She sang from herbelly with a voice that could be hearddown the block, drowning out cries forhelp and the rumble of National Guard

trucks. One by one, family, friends andcomplete strangers joined her, clappingand singing as she led them as she had aschoir director at New Jerusalem Mission-ary Baptist Church in Bridge City.

"When this worldIs tossing meLike a ship on the raging seaThou who rulest the winds and waterStand by me, stand by me�"

From staff reports

Federal troops and relief convoys continued topour into New Orleans on Saturday, even as busesevacuated additional thousands of debilitatedrefugees who endured the most horrific five days inthe 287-year history of this once-elegant city.

But if relief was in sight, it was not yet at hand.Thousands of men, women and children who fled

impoverished neighborhoods flooded by HurricaneKatrina waited listlessly for relief at the threshold ofdeath and despair at the Ernest N. Morial ConventionCenter.

They said they had been without food and wateruntil Friday.

Corpses lay under blankets among them. One manin the shelter said he counted seven bodies as hewaited over three days, and there were reports of vio-lence.

Still, the evacuees asserted their dignity. Manymade clear they resented the general characterizationthat those left behind in New Orleans were thugs andlooters.

As another among them died Saturday, they eulo-gized the departed by singing the gospel music that

S U N D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 4 , 2 0 0 5$1.50 169TH YEAR NO. 227 HURRICANE EDITION

KATRINA: THE STORM WE’VEALWAYS FEARED

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STAFF PHOTO BY ELIOT KAMENITZMETAIRIE: Helicopters evacuate people in need of medical help as crowds of others displaced by Hurricane Katrina pile into buses near the intersection of Veterans Memorial and Causeway boulevards.

SUNDAY

INSIDE: Seeking help, finding death at Convention Center, page 5 . Talk resurfaces of possible Saints move to San Antonio, page 6 . St. Bernard rescuers find horrific sites, page 12

STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGERNEW ORLEANS: Anita Roach, who used to live in the Lower 9th Ward, leads thosearound her in gospel songs. Hundreds of people were waiting for a bus to takethem from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

HELPAT LASTAfter five days, thousands of anguished

storm victims finally have a reason for hope

See KATRINA, page 4

Authoritiesregaining

grip on city

Amid chaos,a rare voice of strength

See GOSPEL, page 8