In pictures: Draining a drowned city

Engineers have begun pumping water out of New Orleans, eight days after the Louisiana city was submerged by the deadly Hurricane Katrina.

Experts warn it could take up to 80 days to completely drain the city of flood water - a toxic soup of chemicals and human waste.

The operation began immediately after emergency workers succeeded in closing a massive hole in a floodwall partially swept away by raging Katrina.

The round-the-clock project saw trucks dumping piles of rocks in the huge gap.

While army helicopters were used to drop sandbags - weighing more than 3,000kg (7,000lb) each - to stop the waters.

The city streets were covered with debris, as experts warned it could take months before the Big Easy could be habitable again.