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.

Federal officials had said on Saturday it would take two to three weeks to pump out the water delivered by Rita.

The Corps of Engineers trucked rocks and airlifted giant sandbags to plug one of the ruptured levees, but the corps’ commander on the ground was leery about how stable the makeshift repairs to the city’s fragile flood-control system would prove.

On Saturday, Mayor Ray 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.

Mr Nagin said he wanted residents of the Algiers neighbourhood, which has electricity and water, to start returning as early as today 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.

However, Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen, who is in charge of the federal disaster effort in the city, sounded a cautionary note about any return to New Orleans.

“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.”

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.