New Orleans centre and French Quarter to reopen

NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans central business district and the historic French Quarter will reopen over the weekend, nearly three weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, mayor Ray Nagin has said.

He said business operators in the French Quarter tourist district, the central business district, and from the uptown and Algiers neighbourhoods would be allowed to return on Saturday and Sunday. Residents of those areas would be allowed to return in the following days in a phased process.

The areas to reopen over the next two weeks were home to about 182,000 people, he said, out of a population of 450,000 before Katrina flooded the city and forced a total evacuation.

"We're ready to start the re-entry process," Nagin told a news conference.

"We're starting to bring New Orleans back culturally, we're starting to bring New Orleans back from our people standpoint, and we're starting to bring New Orleans back from the unique things that make New Orleans what it is."

Many other neighbourhoods could take months longer to reopen, Nagin said, adding that some will probably have to be leveled. Half the homes in the city could be salvaged, he said.

City and emergency officials have been opening areas as electricity, water and sewer service is restored, although a few residents and businesses are camping out with generators and bottled water.

Most of the city has running water everywhere that is not yet drinkable. Officials are warning returning residents not to shower with it, though it is useful in toilets.

Well-armed security forces will strictly enforce a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

Nagin said soldiers, National Guardsmen and police from all over the country had helped clean out violent criminals.

"This city, for the first time that I can remember, is drug-free and violence-free," Nagin said.

The French Quarter, popular for its fine restaurants, jazz joints and all-night bars, escaped the worst flooding. It will reopen to residents a week from this coming Monday.

"The French Quarter is high and dry and we feel it has good electricity capabilities.

"But since it is so historic, we want to double and triple check before we fire up all electricity in there to make sure, because every building is so close that if a fire breaks out we won't lose a significant amount of what we cherish in this city," Nagin said.

Near the French Quarter, the more heavily damaged Treme area, considered the cradle of the city's jazz history, would be the next focus, he said.

Many business owners were already starting the cleanup process today.

"We are going to get the city back," said designer Son Nguyen as he swept broken glass outside an engineering firm. "When people see us cleaning up, they are going to want to come back."

- REUTERS