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New Orleans residents invited to return
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-30 20:00
Mayor Ray Nagin invited residents of some of the city's
most popular neighborhoods to return at their own risk beginning Friday, a move
that could bring back about one-third of New Orleans' half-million inhabitants,
AP reported.
German THW workers Ulf Langemeier, left, and
Florian Weber look at pump station number 5 on the east side of the
Industrial Canal in New Orleans, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005. The pump built
in 1930 was flooded out by Katrina and the team has been working to pump
the station dry to see if it can be repaired.
[AP] |
The newly opened areas, including the French Quarter and Garden District, all
escaped major flooding in a city that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina a
month ago before receiving a second blow from Hurricane Rita last week.
Business owners began showing up Thursday, some saying they were pulling out
and others vowing to rebuild.
"We are lucky. I was expecting much worse than this," said Germame Kassa,
whose Ethiopian grocery and deli was relatively unscathed, although the stink of
rotting food wafted through the locked doors. "One way or the other, we'll be
back in business."
The mayor was pushing aggressively to reopen the city despite concerns raised
by state and federal officials. Serious health hazards remain because of
bacteria-laden floodwaters, a lack of drinkable water and a sewage system that
still does not work, said Stephen L. Johnson, chief of the Environmental
Protection Agency.
"There are a whole lot of factors that need to be
weighing on the mayor's mind," Johnson said. He said the EPA was not taking a
position on Nagin's plan, but he refused to answer when asked if he would allow
his own family to return to New Orleans.
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