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Admiral asks New Orleans residents to delay return
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YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSNEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- New Orleans business owners started trickling into the city on Saturday and residents were expected to return next week, but the head of the federal government's response to the storm said he wished they wouldn't. "I urge all residents returning to use extreme caution if they return and to consider delaying their return until safer and more livable conditions are established," Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen wrote in a statement. Allen said that water, sewage, electric and safety systems were not available to meet basic human needs. (See challenges people returning will face) "There are health issues that people should be aware of, and the absence of drinkable tap water will contribute to unsanitary conditions," he wrote. As flood water is pumped out and more areas are exposed, "toxins and other environmental hazards may pose additional health risks." Allen's statement strikes a starkly different tone from the optimistic announcement Thursday by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. At a news conference, Nagin announced that residents would be allowed to re-enter -- and "repopulate" -- the city in stages. He called it "a good day in New Orleans." A federal official involved in behind-the-scenes discussions on recovery efforts told CNN that federal and some state officials were "caught a bit off guard by how forward leaning" Nagin was. The official insisted on anonymity because the discussions go beyond information that was being released publicly. Federal officials fear Nagin's timing is too ambitious given the "substantial public health and environmental issues that remain," the official told CNN. "Security is also an issue but not quite on par with the others due to the large presence of forces there." Federal officials said the authority to repopulate the city rests with the mayor, but that Allen decided to release a statement because the federal government has a duty to disclose public health concerns. "We are releasing this information today so the public can be fully informed of the risks that they may face in the city. Also, the City of New Orleans is issuing its own warnings through a flyer to be distributed to each returning resident," Allen's statement said. The official who spoke to CNN said that authorities were particularly concerned about Nagin's plan to allow residents to return later this week to the Garden District, Uptown and other nearby areas. The French Quarter, the central district and Uptown were opened, but everyone will be under a strict curfew, the city's homeland security chief, Col. Terry Ebbert, said. The streets will be open until 6 p.m., and business owners will be warned of the possibility of violence, he said. Everyone will have to leave immediately if it begins to rain, Ebbert said. The French Quarter, on one of the highest points in the city, suffered power outages but very little flooding after Hurricane Katrina smashed New Orleans on August 29. A handful of people never evacuated and some returned early to clean up. Nagin said Thursday that the French Quarter will be open for business by September 26. Faras Canahuati said he was anxious to reopen his two-month old restaurant, and for the fun, laughter and "screaming, sometimes" to return. "It was a good atmosphere," he said. Jason Mohney, the owner of four strip clubs on Bourbon Street, told Reuters that he saw a unique opportunity ahead. "It'll be better than ever," he said. "A lot of federal money will be coming in here. Big-time developers will come, too." But some residents said it would be a while until things returned to normal. "We don't want a bunch of tourists in here while we're trying to get our homes together, get our businesses together," Sandra Cimini told The Associated Press. Her family owns a bar on Chartres Street. "It's not going to be walking down the street with a hurricane glass in your hand until we can get everything together." Ebbert said that residents of the Algiers neighborhood will be allowed to return Monday. Algiers is the only area where all city services have been restarted.(Watch video of the man leading rebuilding effort) Algiers, the one part of New Orleans that lies across the Mississippi River on the West Bank, is principally a residential area. Its tip, lodged in the elbow of the river's crescent, hosts a ferry landing and row after row of sherbet-colored wooden houses. The central business district includes Canal Street, the Louisiana Superdome, an Amtrak station and nearly all of the city's skyscrapers. One of its borders abuts the French Quarter. Uptown, the scene of novelist Anne Rice's vampire epics, boasts palatial mansions with leaded beveled glass doors, wraparound porches and gazebos where the elite English settled upriver from the quarters of the French. Tulane and Loyola universities are among the institutions in the section of oak-lined boulevards and the famed streetcar route along St. Charles Avenue. Other developmentsCNN's Mike M. Ahlers contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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