New Orleans – Citing health and safety concerns, the top official in charge of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts urged a delay Sunday to a plan for bringing large numbers of people back to a city largely without power, drinking water or a working 911 system.
The official, Vice Adm. Thad Allen of the Coast Guard, stopped short of saying the federal government would attempt to halt the plan, which has been proposed by Mayor C. Ray Nagin.
But in several televised interviews Sunday, he said the city was moving too fast, and he sketched a set of rudimentary needs he said had not been met.
“I wouldn’t want to attach a time limit to it,” Allen said, “but it includes things like making sure there’s potable water, making sure there’s a 911 system in place, telephone, a means to notify people there is an approaching storm so you can evacuate it with the weakened levee situation,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“We can do that,” he said, “and we can do that fairly soon, but it’s very, very soon to try and do that this week.”
Nagin’s plan would open the city to as many as 180,000 residents, about a third of the population, over the next week.
A spokeswoman for Nagin, who has said he has been pressured to reopen the city by some residents, said Sunday the mayor would not comment beyond a statement the city issued late Saturday that suggested the re-entry plan could change.
“We believe our re-entry plan properly balances safety concerns and the needs of our citizens to begin rebuilding their lives,” the statement said. “In the same way that we have been pouring resources into rescuing citizens and draining the city, we must offer the people of New Orleans every chance for a sense of closure and the opportunity for a new beginning.
“We also understand the plan will require continual reassessment and will adjust as necessary.”
The mayor and Allen are to meet today to discuss the plan.
Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers have said repairs to levees are not yet strong enough to prevent flooding in a moderate storm, much less another hurricane.
Over the weekend, business owners were allowed to return to four areas: the French Quarter, the central business district, the Uptown neighborhood and Algiers, across the Mississippi River from downtown.
Beginning today, residents are supposed to be able to return to Algiers, one of the least damaged areas and home to about 57,000 people.
Power has largely been restored there. Residents can return to parts of Uptown beginning Wednesday and to the French Quarter by Sept. 26, according to the mayor’s plan.
Power is to return to the French Quarter by Friday and to Uptown by Sept. 26, a spokesman for Entergy New Orleans said.
The city has set a curfew from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m., and many business owners who have come back say they only want to assess damage, clean up and begin repairs.
Many said they would not stay, in part because of the curfew but also because they lack power and, just as important, customers.
Some residents have already returned, often saying they met little resistance at checkpoints coming into town.
But while the city has not said how many people have come back, the numbers appear small. Traffic is light, and streets remain largely empty.