By Peter Applebome and Ralph Blumenthal
The New York Times
New Orleans – The lights came back on in the French Quarter on Monday, and residents streamed back across the Mississippi River to neighborhoods in Algiers.
For the first time since Hurricane Rita compounded the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, glimmers of optimism began coursing through this battered and largely deserted city as Gulf Coast residents in Texas and Louisiana attempted to put their lives back together.
The death toll from Hurricane Rita rose to eight Monday, including a 3-year-old boy who was killed when a tree fell on his family’s trailer home in Point Blank, Texas. Five people, including three children, were found dead in an apartment in Beaumont, Texas, apparently overcome by carbon monoxide from a generator they were using indoors to power a ceiling fan, the authorities said.
Residents of southwestern Louisiana were trying to return to the hard-hit towns where homes, businesses and farms were obliterated by the storm.
Crude-oil and gasoline futures rebounded on speculation that refineries near the Texas-Louisiana border may be shut down for longer than expected. Officials said refineries in Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, suffered more damage than had been thought and could be closed for extended periods because of a lack of power and damage from winds or flooding. None of the operators said when production would resume.
But under a sunny sky, on a day with sweltering temperatures, residents across the region tried to move on after the storms.
Houston, which had feared a knockout blow from Hurricane Rita but received just a wet slap, continued to recover, with power restored to about 555,000 of the 700,000 CenterPoint Energy customers who lost service Saturday.
Paul Bettencourt, the tax assessor and collector for Harris County, which includes Houston, estimated that the county had suffered $41.6 million in damage, a fraction of the estimated loss of $50 billion to $80 billion had Hurricane Rita remained a Category 5 storm and hit Houston head-on instead of veering off to the east.
With evacuees streaming back to Houston, there were some traffic jams on southbound Interstate 45 but little of the gridlock that marred the mass evacuation Thursday and Friday. Motorists appeared, for the most part, to be abiding by a staggered plan that designated different return dates for various sections of the city.
In New Orleans, Mayor C. Ray Nagin resumed plans to gradually reopen the city, inviting people in the Algiers neighborhood to return Monday. Business owners in other parts of the city, particularly the French Quarter, were also allowed back.
But officials made it clear that residents would not be coming back to the city they knew. “We want people to return and help us rebuild the city,” Nagin said. “However, we want everyone to assess the risks and make an informed decision about re-entry plans.”
An information sheet handed to returning residents said, “Welcome home!” But it also warned, “You are entering the City of New Orleans at your own risk.” It added, “There are still many health and safety issues.”
In Algiers, an area with 60,000 residents before Hurricane Katrina struck, business owners were allowed to return at 10 a.m. for inspections, but many had already opened and plenty of residents returned home.
Hulon Matherne put plywood signs by the road to point the way to his barber shop. He had an electric razor in his right hand and a pistol in his belt. He was giving a $12 haircut to Davis Mena, 4, and Pat Cargol was next in line. The other chairs had been stolen after the storm, and the other barber had quit to make quick money in construction.
“We’re going to survive,” Matherne said. “Those that want to work will survive. That’s why I busted my buns to get back here.”
In the French Quarter, business operators became giddy when the power came back on around 11 a.m. Monday.
Within an hour, bartenders had rushed into the Bourbon Street Blues Company and the Famous Door saloon. “We’re happy to be back, and we ain’t going nowhere,” said Phil Uson, the owner of both establishments. “People have heard New Orleans is done, we’re closed, we’re not coming back. That’s so far from the truth.”
Uson predicted that his clubs would be “semi-normal.” “Mardi Gras will be the start of everything again,” he said.
Stephen Perry, president of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that all major conventions, the lifeblood of the tourist economy, had been canceled through March 31, when the convention center is expected to be reopened after being repaired and refurbished.
Perry said 80 percent of the city’s hotels could be back in operation by the end of October.
Tourism, the city’s largest industry, with 85,000 jobs, will begin to recover near the end of the year, he said, first through rescue workers and contractors, then through individual visitors and small meetings and conventions, and finally with the major events.
“The outpouring of emotion and support from around the country has really stunned us,” Perry said. “People know this is a very special place.”
