Efforts to revive New Orleans get back in gear

Caution on return
On Saturday, Nagin renewed his delayed plans to allow some residents to return to the drier parts of the city. He said he thought the dry districts would eventually support a population of between 250,000 and 300,000.

Nagin said he wanted residents of the Algiers neighborhood, which has electricity and water, to start returning as early as Monday or Tuesday, followed by people in other ZIP codes.

“We’re talking about people who are mobile. We’re not asking people to come back who have a lot of kids, a lot of senior citizens,” he said. “That’s going to be the reality of New Orleans moving forward.”

Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, who is in charge of the federal disaster effort in the city, sounded a cautionary note Sunday about any return to New Orleans. The city can continue allowing business operators to return to unaffected areas of the city and letting residents return to the West Bank and the Algiers area, Allen said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

“Where the mayor needs some thoughtful approach to is the areas that have been reflooded and the areas that may remain uninhabitable for safety, health and other reasons,” the admiral said. “And I think a timetable associated with that still needs to be worked out.”

Estimate of complete levee repair: June
The Corps of Engineers estimates the city’s system of levees will not be completely repaired until June. With a month left in the hurricane season, there’s no guarantee that another storm will not undo the next round of hard work to bring New Orleans back to life.

Elsewhere in the city, flooding continued from lesser levee problems, heavy rain and Lake Pontchartrain, which lapped over the seawall on Friday and remained above its normal level.

The renewed flooding in the Ninth Ward brought a stoic response from many locals helping to clean up a pub on St. Charles Avenue.

“They need to start getting people back into the city to do all the work that needs to be done,” Neuell Griffith said.

A handful of evacuees returned to New Orleans aboard a flight from Cincinnati.

“You go from joy to disbelief to sadness to just being tired, to just wanting to go home,” said Paul Jordan. “Our goal is to help rebuild the city, and we’re going to do whatever we can.”

But not everyone headed back to New Orleans plans to stay.

Haney Joudeh has resettled in Chicago and was coming to take photos of his clothing store, which he heard was looted, for the insurance company.

“It’s like starting a life all over. That’s it for me. There’s nothing left,” Joudeh said.

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