New Orleans :: Tourism Updates
September 22, 2005
According to the National Weather Service's 4 p.m. EST update, Hurricane Rita has become an extremely dangerous Category 5 Hurricane with 165 mph winds. A Hurricane Watch has been for the Gulf of Mexico coast from Port Mansfield, Tx., to Cameron, La. A Tropical storm watch has been issued for east of Cameron to Grand Isle, La. and from south of Port Mansfield to Brownsville, Tx. Forecasters say Rita should come ashore sometime Saturday.
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According to the National Weather Service's 4 p.m. EST update, Hurricane Rita has become an extremely dangerous Category 5 Hurricane with 165 mph winds. A Hurricane Watch has been for the Gulf of Mexico coast from Port Mansfield, Tx., to Cameron, La. A Tropical storm watch has been issued for east of Cameron to Grand Isle, La. and from south of Port Mansfield to Brownsville, Tx. Forecasters say Rita should come ashore sometime Saturday.
Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for New Orleans, Galveston, Tx., and vulnerable parts of Houston, one day after Rita skirted past the Florida Keys as a Category 2 storm, causing minimal damage. A voluntary evacuation was called for residents in Algiers. Governor Kathleen Blanco has established a state of emergency in Louisiana ahead of Hurricane Rita.
Mayor C. Ray Nagin ordered people who had returned to New Orleans to leave. He said he would begin enforcing that order today. But despite warnings, New Orleans residents weren't rushing to board evacuation buses Wednesday as forecasts raised hopes Hurricane Rita could veer away from the Louisiana coast and hit the central Texas coast by the weekend.
New Orleans requested 200 buses for evacuation, and 150 were already available today. Buses were available to run from the Convention Center and a stadium in Algiers, however only one person of the estimated 400-500 in New Orleans showed up at the Convention Center to be evacuated by bus.
Only about 10% of the city is still flooded, down from a high of about 80% after Katrina, and the water was expected to be pumped out by Sept. 30. The Army Corps of Engineers continues pumping the water left behind by Hurricane Katrina and readying the city's levee system in case the new storm takes a sharp right turn. Engineers have warned residents that the patched-up levees can only handle up to 6 inches of rain and a storm surge of 10 to 12 feet.
Mayor C. Ray Nagin suspended the reopening of large portions of the city Monday evening and instead told nearly everyone to err on the side of safety and leave in light of Tropical Storm Rita's advance through the Gulf of Mexico over the next few days.
He ordered residents who circumvented checkpoints and slipped back into the still officially closed parts of the city to leave immediately. Those areas include the historic French Quarter, the Garden District, Uptown and the central business district. Nagin also urged everyone already settled back into Algiers and business owners returned to the Quarter and CBD to be ready to evacuate as early as Wednesday.
A mandatory curfew remains in effect from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. The Mayor’s evacuation order remains in effect, allowing no one who is not officially credentialed (e.g., recovery workers) to enter the city at this time.
Residents of New Orleans suburb Algiers began to return to their homes over the weekend and into today. They are under voluntary evacuation orders as of today. Owners of businesses in the French Quarter and CBD were allowed back in Saturday to begin clean-up and plan their return to operation. Nagin had said that residents of the least affected areas - including Algiers, the French Quarter, CBD and Garden District/Uptown - would incrementally be allowed back into their homes beginning today. But, he said, "Now we have conditions that have changed. We have another hurricane that is approaching us."
Jefferson Parish emergency officials have told WDSU-TV that they are taking a “wait and see” approach to Tropical Storm Rita.
Jefferson Parish began on Friday allowing residents with ID or proof of address to return beginning at 6:00 a.m. each day via Airline Highway. A curfew from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. is still in effect.
A curfew order remains in effect in St. Tammany Parish from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Emergency Operations
The military and all public safety agencies in the city of New Orleans formed a consolidated communication link to coordinate safe, organized re-entry to the city.
Officials are in the process of establishing and carrying out a plan for a unified 911 Communications Center. The Emergency Operations Center is fully activated and operational under the Incident Command System. The EOC is working under written Incident Action Plans to coordinate tactical operations in the field. Ongoing work: Coordinating resource requests and allocations. Prioritizing missions to optimize resource usage.
Established logistical support for EOC/City Hall staff. Completed digital aerial photography to complete rescue mission tasking. Preparing to transfer operations to larger facility in order to ramp up operations with agency representatives.
For specific information regarding traffic management and evacuation protocol, check the Louisiana Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness Web site.
For information regarding statewide shelters, please call 1-800-469-4828.
Fire Department and Police Emergency Service
Police and fire services in Orleans Parish are limited. The 911 system is not fully functional. For emergencies please call: (504) 552-4830.
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