Authorities in Long Beach, Mississippi, east of the New Orleans metropolitan area, said they cordoned off most of the devastated town with barbed wire fencing Wednesday.
The 4-1/2 miles of rolled barbed wire, stretching around the town from the Gulf of Mexico to a half-mile inland, was put up to keep out looters, said officials with the Long Beach Fire Department.
But military police at a checkpoint in the town of about 17,000 people just west of Gulfport said the fencing was erected because it is believed many bodies remain in that area.
The sealed-off area contained large upper- and middle-class houses, most of which were destroyed.
CNN producer Peter Tedeschi described the damage as some of the worst he had seen along the Mississippi coast. He said the stench was overwhelming.
Video showed blocks and blocks of homes reduced to rubble, cars tossed about like toys and large oaks snapped in half.
Scott Dubuisson with the Long Beach Fire Department said he had no idea how long the area will remain sealed.
He said touring the area was unlike anything he had ever seen: "It's like going to Mars for the first time."
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