Hurricane Katrina

House speaker wants federal money to tackle blight

AP - Fri Nov 13, 10:34 AM ET

BATON ROUGE, La. - Federal recovery money that remains unused since hurricanes Katrina and Rita should be spent on blight remediation and infrastructure repairs in New Orleans, House Speaker Jim Tucker said Thursday.

  • File - U.S. Army soldier walks past a Humvee vehicle at the Khanabad base, Uzbekistan, in this May 28, 2002 file photo. A question about military casualties in Uzbekistan is being answered as part of an Associated Press Q&A column called 'Ask AP.' (AP Photo/Bagila Bukharbaeva, File)
    Ask AP: Soldier in Uzbekistan, solar panel safety AP - Fri Nov 13, 8:45 AM ET

    A lot of the sunniest parts of the U.S. — like Florida and the Gulf Coast — are also prime hurricane country.

  • New Orleans amusement park revival hits new snag AP - Tue Nov 10, 4:12 PM ET

    NEW ORLEANS - The revival of an amusement park flooded by Hurricane Katrina has suffered a setback after the cable television network Nickelodeon said it has ended its relationship with a Louisiana company trying to redevelop the abandoned site in eastern New Orleans.

  • NASA satellite image shows Hurricane Ida as it churns through the Caribbean on November 7. Weakened remnants of what was once Hurricane Ida have made landfall on the US Gulf coast, dumping heavy rain and triggering some flooding but without the deadly winds Ida packed over the weekend.(AFP/NASA/File/Ho)
    Tropical Storm Ida weakens as it hits US Gulf Coast AFP - Tue Nov 10, 10:58 AM ET

    NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) - Weakened remnants of what was once Hurricane Ida made landfall on the US Gulf coast Tuesday, dumping heavy rain and triggering some flooding but without the deadly winds Ida packed over the weekend.

  • Ida's threat ebbs but U.S. Gulf energy output disrupted Reuters - Mon Nov 9, 6:14 PM ET

    MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - A weakened Tropical Storm Ida drenched the U.S. Gulf Coast and oil installations on Monday, shutting down nearly 30 percent of Gulf energy production.

  • Jason Rodgers is hit by high surf, rain and wind from Tropical Storm Ida as it approaches the coast at Perdido Pass in Gulf Shores, Ala., Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
    Gulf Coast preps as Ida weakens to tropical storm AP - Mon Nov 9, 6:20 PM ET

    PENSACOLA, Fla. - Gulf Coast residents hunkered down at home and in shelters Monday as a rare late-season tropical storm headed their way, bringing with it the potential for high winds, flooding and up to 8 inches of rain in some places.

  • Todd Wilson, center, of Ipswich, Mass., plays with his daughter Nicole, 7, in the pool as the waves crash onto the surf as hurricane Ida passes the resort area, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 in Cancun, Mexico. Ida has grown into a hurricane for a second time as it moves over the Caribbean. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
    Late-season hurricane takes aim at US Gulf Coast AP - Mon Nov 9, 2:02 AM ET

    NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Ida, the first Atlantic hurricane to target the United States this year, plodded early Monday toward the Gulf Coast with 105 mph winds, bringing the threat of flooding and storm surges.

  • In a Fri., Oct. 30, 2009 photo, the Army Corps of Engineers begins a $1 billion project, the West Closure Structure, to close off navigation and drainage canals that feed into the West Bank and turn into conduits for storm surge during hurricanes, in Harvey, La. (AP Photo/Cheryl Gerber)
    Corps starts $1B barrier for western New Orleans AP - Tue Nov 3, 1:13 PM ET

    HARVEY, La. - Mindful that the suburban West Bank of New Orleans has regained its pre-Hurricane Katrina population and is primed for growth, the Army Corps of Engineers is launching a $1 billion effort to keep the next storm at bay.

  • New Orleans mayor wants cuts, fees for budget hole AP - Fri Oct 30, 5:09 PM ET

    NEW ORLEANS - As New Orleans struggles to keep its recovery from Hurricane Katrina on track, it's facing one of its largest ever budget deficits, $68 million, and the prospect of higher fees for residents and forced furloughs for many city workers to address it.

  • In this book cover image released by Lawrence Hill Books, Ned Sublette, author of 'The Year Before the Flood: A Story of New Orleans,' is shown. (AP Photo/Lawrence Hill Books, Alden Ford)
    New Orleans lives on in 'Year Before the Flood' AP - Tue Oct 27, 7:17 AM ET

    NEW YORK - Hurricane Katrina gave Ned Sublette a dramatic coda — and title — for his memoir.

  • New Orleans' Mayor Ray Nagin speaks during a press conference with The Associated Press at the Melia Cohiba hotel in Havana, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009.(AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)
    In Cuba, N.O. mayor talks disaster response, trade AP - Tue Oct 20, 10:38 PM ET

    HAVANA - Under Cuba's communist system, the government calls all the shots all the time — but during monster hurricanes that may not be such a bad thing, New Orleans' mayor says.

  • FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2009 file photo, Julius Steel displays a shucked raw oyster at Pascal's Manale restaurant in New Orleans. Facing fierce resistance, the Obama administration on Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, backed off a plan to ban sales of raw oysters from the Gulf of Mexico during warm-weather months. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, FILE)
    Questions remain after Obama's New Orleans visit AP - Fri Oct 16, 7:41 PM ET

    NEW ORLEANS - A day after an enthusiastic, almost-gushing crowd met President Barack Obama on his first visit to New Orleans since taking office, some in this still-suffering, hurricane-struck city wondered when platitudes and political speech would give way to greater progress.

  • Sally James, director of Pass Christian Public Library, poses in front of the temporary library in Pass Christian, Miss. Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009. Recovery from Hurricane Katrina has been slow in Pass Christian, a picturesque coastal town once filled with antique shops, artists' galleries and century-old homes. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)
    Near Katrina bull's eye, town hopes for rebound AP - Fri Oct 16, 11:51 AM ET

    JACKSON, Miss. - On the morning the Walmart reopened this week in Pass Christian, rain canceled a small parade Mayor Chipper McDermott had planned, so folks stood inside the store and handed out gaudy Mardi Gras beads instead of throwing them from a float.