NEW ORLEANS - A report released Thursday describes Orleans Parish prisoners trapped in flooded cells, deprived of food and water for days, and calls the scene at the prison "some of the worst horrors of Hurricane Katrina."

The American Civil Liberties Union compiled the report through interviews with prisoners, Orleans Parish Prison deputies and staff, and through legal and public documents.

"Prisoners went days without food, water and ventilation, and deputies admit that they received no emergency training and were entirely unaware of any evacuation plan," the ACLU report said. "Even some prison guards were left locked in at their posts to fend for themselves, unable to provide assistance to prisoners in need."

Other deputies abandoned prisoners in locked cells, where some were standing in sewage-tainted water up to their chests, according to the report.

Tom Jawetz, litigation fellow for the ACLU's National Prison Project, said the Sheriff's Office was "completely unprepared for the storm."

"The Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals did more for its 263 stray pets than the sheriff did for the more than 6,500 men, women and children left in his (Sheriff Marlin Gusman's) care," Jawetz said.

A spokeswoman for the sheriff said the department had not seen the report and had no immediate comment.

Gusman has acknowledged that a loss of electricity and no working toilets created a foul atmosphere. He has denied, however, that prisoners were not fed. He said prisoners, his staff and their families had food from the prison, plus meals supplied by the military.

There were no confirmed deaths at the prison, the report said.