Wednesday, September 21, 2005

New Orleans updates

The probability of New Orleans facing renewed disaster in the future is explored in this article — meanwhile power has been restored to about 78% of the nearly 1m homes which lost it as a result of the hurricane. Power companies have been hit hard by the cost of repairs versus their revenue, with Entergy New Orleans considering filing for bankruptcy despite being able to operate.

Energy companies are, at the same time, evacuating the Gulf Coast area again in preparation for Hurricane Rita, which is expected to hit the Texas coast, well westwards of Louisiana and New Orleans. It is currently an extremely strong Category 4 storm.

Back in New Orleans, cleanup from Katrina continues with residents who returned hospitalised by stepping on nails, falling from roofs, or even stepping in water with cut feet. Federal flood insurance cheques are being rushed to policy-holders in an overdue acceleration of normal payouts, while further claims will have to be filed for nearly one-quarter of a million cars which were lost to the storm.

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