New Orleans threatened again

2005-09-23 14:55

New Orleans - New Orleans is again ready to issue a full scale evacuation order if Hurricane Rita should swing towards the city still paralysed by Hurricane Katrina, officials said on Tuesday.

The city on Monday backtracked on a plan to start resettling residents forced out three weeks ago, fearing that Rita, currently lashing Florida, could swing north after it enters the Gulf of Mexico and threatens Louisiana.

Mayor Ray Nagin told journalists in New Orleans that plans had been drawn up to start to get people out of the city 72 hours before Rita would hit.

"There are 500 busses staged and ready to go," he said, adding that two bus loads of people had already been moved out of the city as a precaution.

Shut the city down

"As long as that storm is still a significant threat in the Gulf of Mexico, we're going to start to shut the city down," Nagin said.

"Based upon the storm threat, we will start to strictly enforce the evacuation process tomorrow," he said.

But Nagin said he was more optimistic than he had been on Monday that the city would escape Rita's backlash, with forecasts suggesting that Rita is headed for neighbouring Texas after it enters the Gulf of Mexico.

"Today I feel better about Rita and I'm not as prone to really go with a hard mandatory evacuation, but I want to leave that option open, just in case the storm decides to turn."

"Once the storm gets in the Gulf of Mexico, there's no telling where it's going to go."

He urged residents who had been intending to return to their homes in the shattered city to be patient, hopeful that his resettlement plan to get tens of thousands of people back in the city could resume shortly after Rita passes.

"I know there are lots of people very anxious about coming home.

"Just hold on a little longer. As soon as we get comfortable that Rita is clear of landfall in Louisiana, we will get back to our re-entry programme," he said.

Vice Admiral Thad Allen, the head of the federal disaster agency on the ground, said that there was a contingency plan to bring in commercial aircraft if needed to help with any evacuation from the city.

One major concern is that with New Orleans' levee system still severely compromised after being battered by Katrina, only a small storm surge could again flood swathes of the city.

General Robert Crear, from the United States Army Corps of Engineers, said that troops had been working around the clock to get the system of protective dykes back up.

"We are prepared to respond to an emergency should it arise," he said.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said that southwestern parts of the state were on an emergency footing, after urging people on Monday to prepare to evacuate.

She warned that the state could barely handle the aftermath of Katrina, which struck on August 29, and that a further storm would have unknown consequences.

- AFP