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September 20, 2005

Returning Residents of New Orleans Told to Evacuate
Residents returning to the reopened areas of New Orleans have been ordered to evacuate the city starting Wednesday as Hurricane Rita threatens to hit the region with pounding winds and torrential downpours, reports the Washington Post.  If Rita makes landfall in the Gulf Coast, levees weakened by Hurricane Katrina could cause another flooding disaster for New Orleans.  The mayor of the city was at first adamant about reopening neighborhoods to residents displaced by Katrina but later issued mandatory evacuations in preparation for Rita.  Full Story

Hotels Reopen, But Not to Travelers
New Orleans hotels are beginning to reopen, but not to travelers, reports USA Today.  Rooms that did not sustain damage during Hurricane Katrina are occupied by relief workers, police officers, military personnel and journalists, make it very difficult for business travelers, including insurance adjusters and contractors, to visit the region to survey the damage left by the storm.  Many hotels have signed contracts with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for all or most of the available rooms.  Full Story

September 19, 2006

More Hotel Rooms Closed by Katrina than Expected
Estimates of the number of hotel rooms deemed unusable three weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region are higher than original predictions, reports the San Jose Mercury News.  According to new reports, more than 46,000 hotel rooms in 286 hotels were damaged during the storm and its aftermath.  The number of rooms deemed unavailable due to damage could increase as power and communication systems are restored to the area.  Full Story

Controversy Mounts as Residents Return to New Orleans
Controversy between local and federal officials regarding the reopening of New Orleans  is mounting as business owners and residents begin returning to the flood ravaged city, reports Yahoo! News.  Federal officials are concerned about the safety of the city, 20 percent of which is still underwater, and the path of a tropical storm predicted to head towards the Gulf of Mexico in the next few days.  The mayor of New Orleans defended his decision to begin repopulating the city by saying that its residents “deserve the opportunity to see what they have left and what they can salvage.”  The neighborhoods set to reopen this week suffered the least damage from the hurricane.  Full Story