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Hurricane Katrina

Big Easy nearly floodwater-free

Instead of taking months as predicted, New Orleans is almost dry. Thousands return as do live shows on Bourbon Street.

By wire services
Published October 2, 2005

NEW ORLEANS - The Army Corps of Engineers pumped out much of the remaining floodwater from the city Saturday as tens of thousands of residents continued returning to dry neighborhoods to check on houses and reopen businesses.

Water was still being pumped out of the heavily flooded lower 9th Ward. Officials said they expected most of the pumping to be completed by today.

"There will still be some isolated pools here and there that aren't drained that will have to be pumped out individually," said Army Corps of Engineers spokesman George Stringham.

Experts had initially predicted it could take months to drain New Orleans.

Police reported few problems Saturday as tens of thousands of residents poured into the city, a day after Mayor Ray Nagin reopened some neighborhoods.

"Residents are very patient," police Capt. Marlon Defillo said. He said there have been no problems with a curfew, and there have been only about a dozen arrests in the past few days, mostly for misdemeanor offenses such as trespassing.

About 1,500 New Orleans police officers are patrolling city streets in 12-hour shifts. Officials still are getting help from other law enforcement agencies and the military.

There were still 3,400 members of the National Guard in the New Orleans area, said Capt. Jim Roth, a spokesman from the Air National Guard in South Carolina. The troops aided in security patrols, water testing, water distribution and other duties.

As of Friday, the state health department reported 932 deaths in Louisiana from Hurricane Katrina. Mississippi's death toll was 221.

Electricity had been restored to about 28 percent of New Orleans and about 98 percent of Jefferson Parish, said Amy Stallings, a spokeswoman for Entergy Corp. Electricity is still out in all of nearby St. Bernard Parish, but a destroyed transmission line was being repaired, Stallings said.

"A sign of optimism'

In another sign that life was returning to the city, the historic St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter planned to celebrate Sunday Mass today - its first since Hurricane Katrina pounded New Orleans more than a month ago. Louisiana Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes planned to preside.

In fact, there was activity all around the French Quarter on Saturday. Cajun music, live and lively, could be heard on Bourbon Street, where handfuls of people sipped drinks as they strolled. Dozens of people thronged the dance floor at Razzoo's Bar and Patio, singing along to We Are Family .

For now, Bourbon Street is mostly being visited by locals who have returned from evacuations. Fewer than half of the businesses on the strip have reopened, but there were half a dozen live bands in bars and nearly as many open strip clubs over the weekend.

"When you see some activity, that's a sign of optimism," said attorney Kim Boyle, a member of the "Bring New Orleans Back" commission announced Friday by Nagin. "We can't walk around looking sad and being in the doldrums 24-7. When I see people smiling, it makes me smile."

Battling mold

However, many of the residents returning to check on homes and businesses left standing after Katrina found themselves facing an obstacle more pervasive and possibly more dangerous than mud and rotting wood: mold spores reproducing inside tens of thousands of buildings.

Trillions of spores, exacerbated by the sultry late-summer weather, could sicken the 20 percent of the population that has allergy problems, experts say, and could also be dangerous for older residents, children and people with weakened immune systems.

Officials at the state Department of Health and Hospitals, the agency primarily responsible for mold mitigation, said the department was so overwhelmed with other flood-related work that it could not inspect homes or analyze health risks of mold, beyond disseminating information on its Web site.

Dr. Harold I. Zeliger, a chemical toxicologist in West Charlton, N.Y., said the mold in New Orleans - after nearly four weeks of uninterrupted growth - could force the widespread demolition of buildings. "Even if they could be saved structurally," Zeliger said, "it probably doesn't make economic sense to do so."

Information from the Associated Press and New York Times was used in this report.

[Last modified October 2, 2005, 01:59:10]