"They were shooting at us, they were shooting at military helicopters. So one of the guys said this is just like Fort Apache in the Bronx, and the name stuck," Crespo said referring to the 1981 movie, starring Paul Newman, of a police station that was more like a fort in hostile territory.

"They were shooting at the helicopters that were bringing them food," added another officer. He said there was no obvious explanation why the gunmen should do this.

For a couple days, around 80 New Orleans police officers were trapped in the station -- pinned down on one side by sniping from gangs in the barrio, and on the other by rapidly rising floodwaters from the Mississippi River.

Returning fire but armed only with the bullets they had in their firearms, they took cover in a neighboring building that was two stories higher. The police took a sledge hammer with them, in case they needed to break through a wall to reach the roof to escape the flood.

The New Orleans police force has come under severe criticism for failing to protect the people of its city from the hurricane, and then from gangs of looters, rapists and murderers that ran amok in the chaos that followed. Many officers deserted.

New Orleans Police Department Deputy Chief Warren Riley said only about 1,000 of the force's 1,641 officers were accounted for.

TOUGH TIME

"Some left for various reasons, some of which we understand. Some of their homes were totally destroyed. Others were looking for missing spouses and family members. Others who didn't stay, that's a subject for a different day," he told reporters.

Crespo and other officers said they were having a tough time looking after themselves. Most had no idea where their families were during the storm and at least two have since committed suicide, he said.

Officers in the 1st District felt so besieged they barricaded the street around their station to ward off attacks.

They hunkered down, trying to protect their feet against infections from sewage-fouled waters outside, and using a filing cabinet as a television antenna.

"Nine days. I got a shower today," Crespo said. "We were on baby wipes and alcohol."

Trapped like everyone else in a city under water, the police resorted to looting for shoes, dry socks and food.

"We didn't take anything that's not essential," Crespo said, showing off brand new white sneakers.

The US government, also under fire for its response to one of the worst natural disasters the country has ever seen, poured troops, police, special forces and emergency management teams into the devastated city by Monday.

Dozens of helicopters thundered overhead as Crespo and other officers in the 1st District prepared to begin patrolling their neighborhoods again. Police, FBI, Army and National Guard SUVs, lorries and Humvees roared through ghostly abandoned streets while air boats and other vessels plied flooded neighborhoods.

People were still being rescued.

"It was scary but we had each other so we kept our sense of humor," said Shani White, three months pregnant, after she and her husband Kenny were plucked from a flooded out office building by Sheriff Marlin Gusman in a boat.

"My baby is going to be called Marlin," she said. And if it's a girl? "Marlina."