Sin City provides reprieve for rescuers

LAS VEGAS -- Leaving hell behind in Louisiana, New Orleans paramedic Keeley Williams has five days to lose herself in the whir of this city's slot machines. Williams, who lost everything to Hurricane Katrina, is one of 44 first responders granted a reprieve here this week, all expenses paid by local businesses and the Red Cross. Hoping to help the city's exhausted civil servants, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin called up the mayors of cities with large numbers of hotel rooms, including Las Vegas and Atlanta, and asked for help. Williams' group of paramedics and firefighters is the first of several hundred first responders and their families from New Orleans expected to arrive in the next few weeks. Several hotels, including the Palms and the Hard Rock, have promised to set aside rooms.

Damage to military bases triggers nearly $1 billion in emergency repairs

WASHINGTON -- Military housing, airport hangars, equipment and power lines were heavily damaged at six military bases across Louisiana and Mississippi, forcing nearly $1 billion in emergency repairs, according to base personnel and other defense officials. A Navy facility in New Orleans is partially flooded and all but essential personnel are still evacuated. Hurricane winds and heavy rain slammed other bases, but many are up and running now. Several bases in the region -- particularly in Florida -- received little to moderate damage, and did not have to evacuate. There have been no reported military casualties.

Bush says nation can meet any challenge

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, linking hurricane recovery and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks four years ago, declared Friday that the nation was ready to "overcome any challenge." "America is a strong and resilient nation," Bush said. Bush said that more than 100 nations had offered help after the hurricane, and he compared that to "a similar outpouring of support when another tragedy struck our nation" -- the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. His speech marked the first of several steps in which the White House is seeking to intertwine the challenge of the anti-terror battle with the effort to recover from the hurricane.