2 years on, Rita's effects linger in La. by Delia Cruceru

Two years passed since Hurricane Rita hit Louisiana and Texas. On Sept. 24 authorities and victims of the powerful Category 3 storm marked the second anniversary of the hurricane. In Cameron, Louisiana courthouse remained intact and nothing else. Everybody lives now in temporary homes as in trailers and even the post office and the bank work in a trailer. Little has changed since the hurricane, but Governor Kathleen Blanco tries to ensure everybody that they were not being overlooked in favor of New Orleans and its struggles after Hurricane Katrina. Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico, causing $11.3 billion in damage on the Gulf Coast and still Hurricane Katrina got the nation's and world media attention. It's true that there were no victims in Louisiana and about 100 in Texas compared to Katrina's death toll. State Sen. Ed Murray, D-New Orleans said "In New Orleans proper, most of the buildings are still there, so they can be renovated or rebuilt. Here, the buildings aren't there. People couldn't even identify their own lots," observing the differences between Katrina and Rita in a tour on Crescent City. Residents that want to move back in Cameron are now battling with property insurers and paperwork from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. New reasons for hope of Cameron's population rise because a new rebuilt hospital with 20 beds of $23 million will be reopened this fall.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070924/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_rita_anniversary;_ylt=Ak4LnjX05PbSG14h68dPRYas0NUE

by Delia Cruceru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.