Mark's Notebook


	If you believe everything you read, better not read. - Japanese Proverb

The Big Easy Is Now Limbo Land

Washington Post

Thursday 9 February 2006, 11:07 am
Keywords: Katrina Hurricane Relief , News Articles

Slow-Moving Bureaucracy Leaves New Orleans Stuck in a Cycle of Waiting

By Linton Weeks, Washington Post Staff Writer

There are so many symbols of Limbo Land: Vast sections of the city are still without utilities. Without electricity, businesses can't open their doors; without open businesses, electric bills can't be paid. House-gutting companies advertise everywhere, but many homes are too far gone for gutting. Of an estimated 50 million cubic yards of hurricane and flood debris, about 6 million has been picked up, the city's Web site reported. Countless cars litter the landscape, rendered useless by the floodwaters. Ridership on buses and streetcars operated by the Regional Transit Authority has fallen from 855,000 rides per week before Katrina to 60,000 or fewer, according to a mid-January situation report by the Bring New Orleans Back commission. Only 17 of 122 public schools have reopened.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/08/AR2006020802401.
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