New Orleans nearly emptied of floodwaters

[Roon]

NEW ORLEANS - The Army Corps of Engineers pumped many of the remaining floodwaters out of the city Saturday as tens of thousands of residents continued returning to dry neighborhoods to check on houses and reopen businesses.

Water was still being pumped out of the heavily flooded lower Ninth Ward. Officials expected the pumping to be completed by Sunday.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9521299/

[darkism]

1. So much for the panic mongerers who said it would take much longer

Glad to see NOLA is well on the road to recovery.

[NMDemDist2]

2. now the REAL cleanup and recovery can begin. n/t

[Skink]

3. The army corp is good....

Maybe we should ask them to fix the Levees.

[pitohui]

4. whoo hoo

despite all the eff-ups, i have to say, we're coming back faster than anyone ever thought

[Hand]

6. We can thank "Old Europe" for a lot of it...

I gather that a whole crew of German engineers arrived with big state of the art pumps and the expertise required to operate them, and that made a huge difference... my my my...

[KamaAina]

5. Let's make sure it's NEVER emptied of New Orleanians!

Now the really interesting part of this story begins, as the city re-emerges in full view, like the butterfly from its cocoon. Stay tuned...

[daleo]

7. I take these news reports with a grain of salt

But it will be interesting to see how the rebuilding of New Orleans goes.

"As of Friday, the state health department reported 932 deaths in Louisiana from Hurricane Katrina. Mississippi’s death toll was 221."

This still strikes me as doubtful.

[Massacure]

8. Because it only counts if you drowned or were hit by flying debris

During the time the storm was overhead. If they determine that you died from dehydration, famine, or disease, it doesn't count.

[daleo]

9. I suspect that is a large part of the game, all right.

Perhaps also bodies that can't be positively identified will be put into some ambiguous category (missing?) for years. A decade hence we may get a fuller accounting. This often happens during and shortly after wars as well.