Dawnsinger

Meanwhile, early Saturday, New Orleans awoke to the sound of a gun-battle, an ambush and execution that left five teen-agers dead in a "gruesome" manner that shook veteran police officers.

This quintuple slaughter, the worst single violent episode in possibly several decades, is the latest wave in a murder rate that has soared since April.  Before Katrina, New Orleans had been suffering a dramatic increase in violent crime - reversing a five-year downward trend and bringing political headaches for Mayor Nagin and then-Police Chief Eddie Compass.  The bloodbath was so bad that it caused many - most infamously, Nagin, during his "Chocolate City" speech - to opine that God himself had sent the hurricane to stop the slaughter.

Now, as hundreds of thousands live in limbo - in gutted houses, in tents and trailers, and scattered around the country - it is obvious that while the future is unclear for the best elements of New Orleans, the worst elements have managed to make their homecoming, and are staking out turf with a vengeance.  The almost daily slayings from pre-Katrina, which were greatly confined to an area known to police as a Zone of Death, are now spread across Uptown, Central City, the Quarter, the Marigny and the West Bank.

In an emergency session this morning, Nagin and the City Council called for the cavalry, making a request from Gov. Blanco - which was quickly granted - that the National Guard be returned to patrolling the city.

Storm season - both meteorological and human - is again tearing out the heart of New Orleans.