Flooded areas of New Orleans ‘could be pumped dry within a week’

AREAS of New Orleans newly flooded by Hurricane Rita could be pumped dry within a week after levee damage is repaired, far sooner than initially predicted.

Workers dumped rock and sandbags into breaches in the city’s Industrial Canal throughout the night and were on course to finish the operation, said Mitch Frazier, a spokesman for the US army corps of engineering.

The storm surge created by Rita eroded repairs made after Hurricane Katrina and sent water surging back into the already devastated ninth ward. Once the breach is closed, engineers believe the area could be dry in a week.