'I'd almost rather be in Iraq'

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Marvin Franks, maintenance officer for the Guard’s 527th Engineer Battalion on the conditions at the superdome. "The living conditions are better there.”

Most of the soldiers running the shelter sleep in the dome, said Louisiana Guard spokesman Maj. Ed Bush. And many also sleep on cots in a parking garage next door. Those inside the dome bunk near but separate from the evacuees. The roof has leaked since 130-mph-winds ripped much of it apart; several soldiers said their gear and clothing has been wet since the hurricane.

As of Wednesday morning, Bush estimated that about 700 guardsmen were taking care of 16,000 evacuees. at the dome. While the Guard is working to fully evacuate the dome, a steady line of more civilians continued to wade through flooded streets to get there for refuge Wednesday.

Many inside would advise them to turn around.

“It’s a bloody mess in there,” New Orleans resident Lawrence Jones said. “I keep joking with the soldiers. They’re cool. They’re doing their job. But it is a bloody mess in there.”

The dome, just as the rest of city, has been without electricity since Sunday night. The Guard is running several generators, but they cannot power air conditioners big enough for the dome. Since the storm cleared out Monday evening, temperatures have neared 100 degrees in the daytime and stayed in the 80s at night. Several evacuees and soldiers have been treated for heat injuries, military police said.