Some officials said they might ultimately be compelled to force people to leave. Brig. Gen. Michael P. Fleming, an Army National Guard commander said: "It's a tough decision. Between the mayor and governor, if they decide that's what to be done, the New Orleans Police Department, the State Police and National Guard would be part of it. We would help them implement it if we're called on to do so." With assistance from 4,000 national guard troops and an additional 4,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne, New Orleans was now secure and "locked down," with looting reduced to minimal levels, according to Warren J. Riley, the assistant superintendent of New Orleans police.

"I think we're turning the corner," Nagin said.

Still, parts of the city such as the Ninth Ward and New Orleans East, along with Chalmette in neighboring St. Bernard Parish, remain inundated, and it could take up to two months to get electricity fully restored to the hardest hit areas, officials said. And police officers and firefighters have been inoculated against hepatitis, cholera, typhoid, tetanus and diphtheria.

The spine of St. Charles Avenue, with its broken canopy of oak trees and its streetcar tracks laced with downed power lines, provided a look at the successes and failures of New Orleans' recovery effort on Tuesday. Near St. Charles and Josephine, a fire consumed two city blocks, officials from the Oklahoma National Guard said.

At Lee Circle, Victor Mejia, 58, a janitor, stood in the shade and said he had no intention of leaving. "I live here," he said. "Where am I going to go?"

With attention turning to what had gone wrong, Nagin said he wanted an independent assessment of the missteps, saying he believed the matter was beyond politicians to solve. He blamed a lack of coordination, slow implementation of a rescue plan and what he called a "two-step" danced by federal and state officials to determine who was in charge.

He said he welcomed any attempt to criticize his own handling of the crisis. "My big question to anybody who's trying to shift the blame is, 'Where were you?"' Nagin said. "I was here. I know what happened. I walked among the people in the Superdome and in the Convention Center. I saw babies dying. I saw old people so tired, they said, 'Just let me lay down and die.' They can talk that, but bring it on. I'm ready for it."

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Contributing: Michael Cooper, Anne E. Kornblut, Matthew L. Wald; Associated Press.