NY Times: Wearying Wait for Federal Aid in New Orleans

Another FEMA official, the manager of an assistance center in the Lower Garden District here, suggested the mental anguish of many of his clients was now palpable.

"As people come in, they become desperate," said the official, Manuel Walker, who manages the Jackson Avenue center. "They're coming back, thinking they can live in their dwelling. And then all of a sudden, there's nothing."

With no place to live in New Orleans, several people entering the Uptown center spoke of frequent long drives to obtain help from FEMA here. Agency officials, backed by armed guards, refused to allow a reporter into the center's giant interviewing room, where long tables lined with seated aid seekers had been set up.