Emotional return for some New Orleans residents

A week after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city, residents of New Orleans who lived in the Jefferson Parish suburb have been allowed back to salvage what is left of their homes.

The area was not as badly affected as downtown New Orleans. While most of the single-storey bungalows in the district have water nearly up to their rooflines, homes in the more exclusive neighbourhood have suffered little structural damage. Traffic jams grew to several miles in length as vehicles crawled into Jefferson Parish. A curfew was set for 6 o’clock in the evening for those returning. They have been allowed to stay until Wednesday. To get in, they had to show a valid ID, bring food and have a full tank of petrol. The president of the suburb warned residents they would find all traffic signals destroyed and no open shops. He recommended that women should not travel alone. The suburb housed 460,000 people and had been closed since the evacuation order was issued just before Katrina hit.

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