BATON ROUGE: Some 140,000 to 160,000 homes swamped by fetid floodwaters in New Orleans are unsalvageable, officials said on Tuesday, raising the prospect of a disastrous housing crisis.

“140,000 to 160,000 homes — that is the number you are looking at, sitting in water. They are literally unsalvageable,” said Mike McDaniel, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.—AFP