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AP New Orleans Residents in No Rush to Leave By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 21, 1:08 PM ET NEW ORLEANS - Despite warnings another hurricane could swamp the city all over again, New Orleans residents weren't rushing to board evacuation b uses Wednesday as forecasts raised hopes Hurricane Rita could pass them by.
Click Here Only one person showed up at the convention center early Wednesday to cat ch a bus out, heeding Mayor Ray Nagin's mandatory evacuation for the est imated 400 to 500 residents were left in neighborhoods on the east bank of the Mississippi River. A voluntary evacuation was called for many mor e residents in Algiers, a residential area on the west bank that reopene d to residents earlier this week. The modest response came as forecasts called for Hurricane Rita which s trengthened to a Category 4, 140-mph storm to veer away from the Louis iana coast and hit the central Texas coast by the weekend. Still, the Army Corps of Engineers continued pumping the water left behin d by Hurricane Katrina and readying the city's fractured levee system in case the new storm took a sharp right turn. And engineers warned reside nts that the patched-up levees can only handle up to 6 inches of rain an d a storm surge of 10 to 12 feet. "The protection is very tenuous at best," said Dave Wurtzel, the Corps of ficial responsible for repairing the 17th Street Canal levee, which rupt ured during Katrina caused the worst of the floods. Kathleen Blanco, who declared a state of emergency, told Louisianans to pray for a break from Rita even as the death toll from Katrina in th e state rose to 799. That pushed the overall toll across the Gulf Coast states past the 1,000 milestone to 1,036. "I just feel so defeated," said Christina Pascal, manager of a condominiu m complex in the city's Warehouse District. Army Corps spokesman Mitch Frazier said the city was only about 10 percen t flooded, down from 80 percent, with just isolated ponds left in sectio ns of the city. In one area of eastern New Orleans, near the Six Flags a musement park, the floodwaters were still 4-6 feet deep. And while the city is still on target to be completely dry by end of the month, Frazier said that all depends on Rita. "We're making preparations now and prepositioning pumps and doing everything we can possibly do to prepared for another storm." As a Category 4 storm, which was Katrina's strength when it came ashore A ug. Frazier said the Corps expected to decide later Wednesday whether to close off the makeshift barriers er ected across the canals to hold back the lake water. Rita's renewed threat to the levees forced the mayor to suspend the phase d reopening of the city. When he came home, Darryl Robichaux dragged his plants and patio furnitur e back onto his balcony. Three days later, another hurricane and a new e vacuation order had him pulling them back inside. We came home to find out half the neighborhood burned d own, now we have to leave again," Robichaux, 25, said Tuesday of the fir es spawned by Katrina. "No telling what we'll find when we finally get b ack again." Nagin did not say how he planned the enforce the evacuation order. But In terstate 10 eastbound, the main artery into New Orleans from points west and north, was closed Wednesday to keep anyone else from coming in. And to people who refused to leave, Nagin had this message: "We're all ad ults. The federal government's top official in the city, Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, said the preparations in and around New Orleans included 500 buses for evacuation and enough water and military meals for 500,000 pe ople. Russel L Honore, commander of active-duty troops engaged i n hurricane relief, grew frustrated with reporters when asked if the gov ernment was trying to compensate for its sluggish response to Katrina. You're asking last storm question s for people who are concerned about the future storm. Despite the low turnout for the buses Wednesday, following just two buslo ads of evacuees Tuesday, officials were hopeful people would respond if Rita proves a threat. Amber Mangham, an military police officer stationed outside the convention center. "The majority of people who are back in the city came with their own vehicle. Keith Price, a nurse at University Hospital who stayed through Katrina, w as already making plans to leave town later Wednesday. "I don't think I can stay for another storm," said Price, who after Katri na waded several miles through chest-deep water to reach a friend's apar tment on higher ground. "Until you are actually in that water, you really don't know how frighten ing it is."
A barge sits in the Ninth Ward near a break in the London Avenue Cana l levee Tuesday, Sept. The Army Corps of Engin eers raced to patch New Orleans' fractured levee system and residents we re forced to decide yet again whether to stay or go as a new, rapidly st rengthening hurricane threatened to flood the city anew.
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