NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans descended into anarchy yesterday as corpses lay abandoned in street medians, fights and fires erupted, police officers turned in their badges and the governor declared war on looters who have made the city a landscape of disorder and fear.

"They have M-16s and they're locked and loaded," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said of 300 National Guard troops who landed in New Orleans fresh from duty in Iraq. "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will."

Four days after Hurricane Katrina roared in to inflict potentially thousands of deaths, the fear, anger and violence mounted. Criticism of the federal response rose to a fever pitch. The chaos deepened despite the promise of the arrival of 1,400 National Guardsmen a day to stop the looting, a $10 billion recovery bill in Congress and a government relief effort President Bush called the biggest in U.S. history. Last night, the Senate approved the recovery bill, and the House will convene today to speed the measure to Bush's desk.

New Orleans' top emergency management official called the federal government's effort a "national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually reach the increasingly lawless city.

There were plenty of other questions. The storm's intensity and ultimate destination were known days in advance, so why were so many National Guard troops still sidelined three days after catastrophe struck? Why were so many areas still unvisited, unaided, unsafe? Why were so many people dying of dehydration, their bodies sprawled in the streets of American cities?

Most of the attention focused on New Orleans, but many thousands more suffered in Gulfport, Biloxi and scores of towns along the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts, as far away as Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, and deep inland.

"There's no FEMA, no Red Cross, no help," said James Gibson, 45, of Lakeshore, Miss.

By this morning, 20,000 National Guard troops will be on duty in the region, with an additional 10,000 expected during the weekend, according to Jack Harrison, a National Guard spokesman.

More than 7,000 active-duty troops have been mobilized, said Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for U.S. Northern Command. Most of these are aboard U.S. Navy ships in the area or en route to it.

The Bush administration also said it will accept foreign assistance. At least 24 nations and international organizations, ranging from Israel to Venezuela and the United Nations, have offered medical teams, field hospitals, military aircraft and other help.

Gunfire reported

Some who survived Katrina's assault Monday died in the ruins of their homes, on city streets and in New Orleans' Superdome and convention center. Others, carrying their children, a few meager possessions and little hope, boarded buses for Houston.

The Superdome-to-Astrodome efforts were temporarily halted when a gunshot was reportedly fired at a military helicopter.

The scope of the calamity came into focus with one statistic released by the White House: Federal disaster declarations blanketed 90,000 square miles of the United States, an area almost as large as the United Kingdom.

In New Orleans, a seething mass of people — channeled by National Guard troops carrying automatic rifles, comforted by an Army chaplain holding a Bible — surged from the Superdome toward the few buses that arrived to carry them from a refuge transformed into a cinematic house of horrors: bodies and fires and piles of human excrement.

About 18,000 people who had taken shelter at the New Orleans convention center grew more hostile after waiting for buses amid the filth and the dead. Police Chief Eddie Compass said there was such a crush around 88 officers who went in to check out reports of assaults that they had to retreat.

"We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten," Compass said. "Tourists are walking in that direction and they are getting preyed upon."

Canadian tourist Larry Mitzel said, "I'm not sure I'm going to get out of here alive." He handed a reporter his business card in case he goes missing. "I'm scared of riots. I'm scared of the locals. We might get caught in the crossfire."

Hasty food drop

Col. Henry Whitehorn, chief of the Louisiana State Police, said he heard of numerous instances of New Orleans police officers turning in their badges.

"They indicated that they had lost everything and didn't feel that it was worth them going back to take fire from looters and losing their lives," Whitehorn said.

A military helicopter tried to land at the convention center several times to drop off food and water. But the crowd forced the choppers to back off. Troopers tossed the supplies to the crowd from 10 feet off the ground and flew away.

In hopes of defusing the situation at the convention center, Mayor Ray Nagin gave the refugees permission to march across a bridge to the city's unflooded west bank for whatever relief they could find. But the bedlam made that difficult.

"This is a desperate SOS," Nagin said. "Right now we are out of resources at the convention center and don't anticipate enough buses."

At least seven bodies were scattered outside the convention center. The sidewalks were packed with people without food, water or medical care, and with no sign of law enforcement.

Tourist Debbie Durso of Washington, Mich., said she asked a police officer for assistance and his response was, " 'Go to hell; it's every man for himself.' "

Death estimates ranged in the thousands, with countless people missing. Estimates of the damage reached $50 billion, the highest ever associated with a U.S. natural disaster.

Growing criticism

Criticism of the relief effort by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal agencies grew louder.

"This is a national disgrace," said Terry Ebbert, the head of New Orleans' emergency operations. "FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."

FEMA officials said some operations had to be suspended in areas where gunfire had broken out.

Michael Brown, FEMA's director, defended the federal response, saying his agency prepared for the storm but the widespread, unexpected flooding kept rescuers out of the city. He urged the nation to "take a collective deep breath" and recognize that federal officials are doing all they can to save people.

While many essentials of life were scarce, sodden residents received one commodity they didn't need: more rain, in the form of thunderstorms. Some help arrived in the form of ice, water and pre-prepared meals, but it fell far short of the need, and there didn't seem to be much coordination.

The White House said the president would tour the Gulf Coast today.

After accepting more than 11,000 refugees, officials in Houston said late last night that the Astrodome was full.

"We've actually reached capacity for the safety and comfort of the people inside there," American Red Cross spokeswoman Dana Allen said. She said people were "packed pretty tight" on the floor of the Astrodome.

Buses were being sent on to other shelters.

Material from Knight Ridder Newspapers and The Washington Post is included in this report.

To view the AP interactive photo of the flooding in New Orleans, go to www.seattletimes.com/hurricanekatrina