• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

New Orleans mayor seeks Bush's help

Posted on: Monday, 10 October 2005, 19:09 CDT

By Nichola Groom

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said on Monday he plans to ask President George W. Bush for help in supporting the city, which is quickly running out of money, over the next three months.

Bush, on his eighth trip to Gulf Coast since it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, was to meet the mayor for dinner in New Orleans on Monday.

"I'm going to talk to him about what it's going to take to keep this city going over the next three months and ask him to support us in the short term," Nagin told reporters after meeting with his 17-member "Bring Back New Orleans" commission at the city's Sheraton Hotel.

When asked if he would be asking Bush for financial support, Nagin did not answer.

Last week, Nagin said New Orleans would lay off about 40 percent of its city workers and warned of further belt-tightening if it did not receive additional funding in the next couple of months.

Bush arrived in New Orleans on Monday for a two-day visit to the region and will meet with local officials to show support for efforts to rebuild the devastated area. The death toll from Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana has now reached 1,021, according to state officials.

Bush will be joined at dinner by members of Nagin's commission. During a nearly four-hour meeting on Monday, the commission discussed efforts to help residents return to New Orleans and received updates on everything from garbage removal to electricity and the water supply.

CASINO ZONE

The mayor also defended his plan to build a casino zone near the historic French Quarter, a move he later told reporters had received mixed reactions from the public.

"We got better organized, we allowed people to kind of get some of the issues on the table," Nagin said of the meeting, during which seven subcommittees were formed to address issues such as education, urban planning, and economic development.

Also at the meeting, officials said some residents of New Orleans' devastated Lower Ninth Ward will be allowed access to their homes on Wednesday.

"We're going to have re-entry for a 'look and leave' into the Ninth Ward starting on Wednesday into those areas where we don't have the large debris fields," said Terry Ebbert, chief of emergency operations for the city.

Dogs are still being used in the area to check large piles of debris for bodies, and one part of the Ninth Ward is still flooded with about a foot of water, Ebbert said.

Under the arrangement, residents will be allowed to view their homes and salvage belongings, but cannot stay. Lower Ninth Ward residents are mostly poor and black.

The Lower Ninth Ward is the last New Orleans neighborhood to reopen to residents. The area was flooded by a storm surge when Katrina struck then hit again by Hurricane Rita less than a month later.

Also on Monday, the Children's Hospital opened its doors, becoming the first city hospital to restore full service since Katrina hit.

Three surgeries were scheduled for Monday and 12 patients had visited the hospital's emergency room by mid-afternoon, according to spokeswoman Tiffany Accousti.

(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria)

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category