Some Business Owners Allowed Back In: Temporary permits are available for business owners who wish to return to the CBD and portions of the Garden District and Uptown. See nola.com article for details (article talks only about CBD businesses).
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Recovery: NYTimes Article On NOLA Recovery Efforts
[FEMA] sending 600 public works laborers to the city, is instead focused on draining the floodwaters, repairing the water system and getting the sewage system operating. Entergy is trying to restore electricity to the drier areas … the Army Corps of Engineers estimates that the city will be drained in another month … officials hoped to get the water system running citywide in 90 days … assuming that thousands of houses will have to be bulldozed … houses can be raised according to the level of risk … Louisiana’s highways need $1.3 billion in repairs (maybe) … future floods could best be deterred through landscape restoration and engineering … “The French Quarter, Algiers and the St. Charles Avenue corridor – all those big houses, all the things the tourists want to see – they’re all still in place.”
From the NYTimes – New Orleans Neighborhoods Worst Hit By Floods
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Political Debris Hinders Efficient Rebuilding Effort: Quite purposefully, I have stayed away from the finger-pointing battle that escalates between the federal government and state & local officials, i.e. who is to blame for what happened in New Orleans?
Guess what, real New Orleanians do not care whose fault it is. We want to see cooperation among all agencies work toward a lasting solution for a city that is vital to America. Aye, there’s the rub: an American city.
Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents and Anarchists alike, I have one request: Stop arguing over who caused this problem. Each time the citizens of New Orleans hear anyone lay the blame wholly at the feet of others, they see Americans distancing themselves from an American problem. Even through one of the worst disasters to hit our country, you care more about your teflon armor than watching a unique American port city come back to life and thrive. For once, can this not be about politics and you, but about people who cry themselves to sleep every night or remain sleepless because they have no certainty about anything, much less their political allegiance?
Instead, be positive for New Orleans and America. Request that all of the energy going into castigation be diverted to finding the optimal combination of financial, intellectual and physical resources, at ALL levels of government, to rebuild New Orleans right.
nola.com editorial: Welcome back, Mr. President
Anne Rice In The NYTimes: Do You Know What It Means To Lose New Orleans?
Instead, be positive for New Orleans and America. Request that all of the energy going into castigation be diverted to finding the optimal combination of financial, intellectual and physical resources, at ALL levels of government, to rebuild New Orleans right
Thank you for saying this in such a way. I’m tired of the finger pointing myself, and of being told that if I’m not pointing fingers, then I’m allowing people to get away with murder. Yes, accountability is good – but I think it’s more important to get people back living normal lives again, and to make sure that from this second on, they are not exploited by the system and people trying to take political or financial advantage.
Google’s Katrina Page: http://www.google.com/katrina.html
Take care, Maitri.