New Orleans opens doors after Gustav by Magdalena Rosova

People who fled Hurricane Gustav forced the city to open its doors Wednesday. President Bush came back to the site of one of his biggest failures of his presidency to show that government has improved since terrible response to Katrina.

Those who decided to return to the city said if it was safe enough for repair crew and health care workers, they could go there as well. But as they got home, tens of thousands of people did not have power. Nearly 1.2 million homes were without electricity across the state and according to officials it can take a month to fix it.

This fact is very critical to schools which can not be reopened and for businesses too. Gas stations can not pump fuel without electricity and hospitals are run out of fuel for generators. However, some places did not loose power at all, including the Superdome.

President Bush praised the response of government to the disaster as excellent after he visited an emergency center and flooded-out farmland. He asked utility companies in neighborhood to send extra manpower to Louisiana.

The government responded significantly differently then three years ago to Katrina, when about 1,600 people died and White House faced critics for stepping in too late.

Nearly 2 million people were evacuated from Louisiana coast in the days before the hurricane. Only 16 people were killed. About 80,000 people stayed in shelters in Louisiana and city provided buses and trains for 18,00 people to flee from the city. Five people were arrested for looting in emptied New Orleans.

It is needed to note, that unfortunately, the 2008 hurricane season is far from over.


related story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26451955/

by Magdalena Rosova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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edited by Beata Biskova