FT.Com: Hurricane raises fears of global energy crisis Fears of an international energy crisis mounted on Wednesday as the scale of human and economic devastation caused in the southern US by Hurricane Katrina became fully apparent. The death toll of more than 100 in official tallies was expected to rise much higher, with the mayor of New Orleans warning that the number of dead in his city would be “minimum hundreds, most likely thousands”. A massive operation was under way to rescue people stranded by floodwater and to care for the many thousands made homeless.