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Hurricane Katrina

More New Orleans residents return

By Associated press
Published October 1, 2005

NEW ORLEANS - The sounds of power saws and wood chippers filled parts of New Orleans on Friday as the French Quarter and other neighborhoods that were spared the worst of Hurricane Katrina were officially reopened to residents, a month after the storm hit.

Along St. Charles Avenue, its famous streetcars still idled, Maury Strong and her husband were elated to return home and find they had electricity.

"I came back to air conditioning and CNN, so I'm happy. The fridge is on, the beer is cold," she said. "I've been sobbing back in California for two or three weeks. I thought it was going to be much worse."

Despite the misgivings of state and federal authorities, Mayor Ray Nagin threw open the French Quarter and the Uptown section as part of an aggressive plan to get the city back on its feet. Algiers, a neighborhood across the Mississippi River from the French Quarter, reopened to residents on Monday.

Altogether, the neighborhoods account for about a third of New Orleans' half-million inhabitants. Most of the reopened areas have electricity, but only Algiers has drinkable water.

Serious hazards remain because of bacteria-laden floodwaters, a lack of clean water and a sewage system that has not been fully repaired. The stench of garbage piled up in some areas is overpowering, and stretches of the city are pitch-black at night.

Some residents came back only to pack and leave.

"We're moving out of this stinking city," Billy Tassin said as he loaded his daughter's belongings into a truck, a day after finding his home fouled with knee-deep mud. "They can finishing destroying it and burning it down without us."

Nagin announced a 17-member commission to draft a rebuilding plan for New Orleans.

The mayor said he has e-mailed the White House outlining his top priorities, including rebuilding and improving the levee system; seeking help with a rail link to Baton Rouge that could be used for emergency evacuation; and getting federal tax breaks and incentives for businesses and residents.

"New Orleans is not asking for a handout; we're asking for a hand up," Nagin said. The Louisiana congressional delegation has called for $250-billion in federal aid to help the state recover.

[Last modified October 1, 2005, 01:46:16]