NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Rita's steady rains sent water pouring through
breaches in a patched levee Friday, cascading into one of the city's
lowest-lying neighborhoods in a devastating repeat of New Orleans'
flooding nightmare.
The forecast called for 3 to 5 inches of rain in New Orleans in the
coming days. That is dangerously close to the amount engineers said
could send floodwaters pouring back into neighborhoods that have been
dry for less than a week.
"Our worst fears came true," said Maj. Barry Guidry of the Georgia
National Guard.
"We have three significant breaches in the levee and the water is rising
rapidly," he said. "At daybreak I found substantial breaks and they've
grown larger."
Dozens of blocks in the Ninth Ward were under water as a waterfall at
least 30 feet wide poured over and through a dike that had been used to
patch breaks in the Industrial Canal levee. On the street that runs
parallel to the canal, the water ran waist-deep and was rising fast.
Guidry said water was rising about three inches a minute.
The impoverished neighborhood was one of the areas of the city hit
hardest by Katrina's
floodwaters and finally had been pumped dry before Hurricane Rita struck.
Throughout Friday morning, water began rising again onto buckled homes,
piles of rubble and mud-caked cars that Katrina
had covered with up to 20 feet of water.
Sally Forman, an aide to Mayor Ray Nagin, said officials knew the levees
were compromised, but they believe that the Ninth Ward is cleared of
residents.
"I wouldn't imagine there's one person down there," Forman said.
Mitch Frazier, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, said
contractors were being brought in Friday morning to repair the new
damage. The corps had earlier installed 60-foot sections of metal across
some of the city's canals to protect against flooding and storm surges.
Forecasters say anywhere from 3 to 5 inches of rain could fall in New
Orleans as Rita passes Friday and Saturday, dangerously close to the 6
inches of rain that Corps officials say the patched levees can withstand.
Another concern is the storm surge accompanying Rita, which could send
water rising as much as 3 to 5 feet above high tide.
Already Friday morning, a steady 20 mph wind, with gusts to 35 mph, was
blowing, along with steady rains.
Because of uncertain weather conditions from Hurricane Rita, the
recovery of bodies was suspended but previous discoveries pushed the
death toll from Hurricane Katrina
to 841 in Louisiana, and at least 1,078 across the Gulf Coast.
As many as 500,000 people in southwestern Louisiana, many of them
already displaced by Hurricane Katrina
, were told to evacuate and many jammed roads north to escape.
In New Iberia, Glynn Stevenson, who swam out of his New Orleans house
with belongings taped to his body, had just gotten settled into a
trailer provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency when the
call came for him to uproot again.
"It's nothing to get mad about," he said. "Just keep a cool attitude and
help your brothers."
As for those who refuse to leave, Gov. Kathleen Blanco advised: "Perhaps
they should write their Social Security numbers on their arms with
indelible ink."
Rita was headed for a Texas landfall but the massive storm threatened
southwestern Louisiana as well, with tropical storm-force winds expected
by noon and hurricane-force winds of 74 mph or higher by early Saturday.
Flash floods were possible as 10 to 15 inches of rain was forecast.
National Guard and medical units were put on standby. Helicopters were
being positioned, and search-and-rescue boats from the state wildlife
department were staged on high ground on the edge of Rita's projected
path. Blanco said she also asked for 15,000 more federal troops.
Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen said three days worth of food, water
and other supplies for 500,000 people are ready and waiting around
Louisiana, if needed after Rita.
A mandatory evacuation order was in effect for homes on the eastern bank
of the Mississippi, and police said people in the city's Algiers section
on the other side of the river would be wise to get out, too. But
thousands stayed put.
"I'm sticking it out," said Florida Richardson, who sat on her front
porch in Algiers, holding her grandson on her lap. "This house is 85
years old. It's seen a lot of tornadoes and a lot of hurricanes. You
can't run from the power of God."
A traffic jam of evacuees extended from Houston and other Texas cities
well into Louisiana, with Interstate 10 congested across southern
Louisiana.
Billy Landry, a marina manager in Cypremort Point, wasn't going to stay
for Rita. He planned to haul himself and thousands of soft-shell crabs
to safety.
"Since Katrina, everybody
seems a little nervous. They don't want to get pulled from rooftops," he
said.
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Associated Press writers Brett Martel in Cypremort Point, Adam Nossiter
in New Orleans and Julia Silverman in Lafayette contributed to this
report.
