Recovery Efforts

Mold creates interesting patterns on the ceiling and walls of a flood damaged house in New Orleans, La., Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005. Despite difficult cleanup conditions, residents are returning to heavily damaged homes and beginning the long process of recovery.

Former President Bill Clinton, left, puts his hand on New Orleans native Steve Eskamire during a discussion at a Red Cross shelter in Baton Rouge, La., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2005. Clinton held a discussion with people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Patricia Lofton reacts after finding her dead cat in her flood-damaged home in the Lakeview area of New Orleans on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2005. Lofton entered the home for the first time since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area more than five weeks ago.

Entergy Corporation worker Michael "Flash" Gordon fixes a transmission line damaged by Hurricane Katrina in the Algiers District, Sept. 28, 2005 in New Orleans. Recovery efforts are continuing in the city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina on August 29.

Workers with Diamond Electrical Co., Inc. fix a traffic signal in the Central Business District, Sept. 27, 2005, in New Orleans. Recovery efforts are continuing in the city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Shown from left to right are Shyrone Wells, Rodney Selders and Marshall Henry.

Florida Marriott Hotel worker Brian Stalters pauses by a vehicle destroyed by Hurricane Katrina as he helps clean up in the Central Business District in New Orleans. Business owners were allowed into Algiers and several other districts on Sept. 26, 2005, to resume cleanup from Hurricane Katrina that was interrupted when Hurricane Rita passed by.

During a news conference Sept. 19, 2005, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin announced that a planned re-entry into New Orleans has been suspended due to the new tropical storm Rita which is possibly headed towards the Gulf Coast.

A rainbow is seen behind workers at the London Canal levee after an outer band of rain from Hurricane Rita swept through the area in the University District, Sept, 22, 2005 in New Orleans. The levee was breached when Hurricane Katrina hit the area on August 29. Depending on the track of Hurricane Rita, New Orleans can expect significant rain fall and storm surges that could cause flooding in the city.

Work crews continue to pump Hurricane Katrina floodwaters over a flood wall in New Orleans on Sept. 18, 2005. Flood water remains in some neighborhoods nearly three weeks after the hurricane hit the gulf coast.

Isaac Williams looks over a note his aunt, Louise T. Lewis, wrote with a marker on the lid of a plastic container full of pennies and personal items while she was trapped with her son in her home in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2005. The message gives her last will and testament because she didn't think she would live to see the rest of her family again after Hurricane Katrina hit.

A layer of sludge, in some places half a foot deep, crusts over Desire Street in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans on Sept. 18, 2005.

Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division deliver copies of Recovery Times to store owners in New Orleans' French Quarter, Sept. 18, 2005. The newsletter gives important information to the returning business owners. Many business owners in the French Quarter are being allowed into the city to try and get things back up and running 20 days after Hurricane Katrina came ashore.

Workers clean the streets of the French Quarter, Sept. 18, 2005, in New Orleans. Some business owners, who had fled the city as Hurricane Katrina approached, returned on Sunday in the first phase of a plan to let inhabitants return to the hurricane-battered city. Mayor Ray Nagin hopes to get up to 180,000 people back into New Orleans within the next two weeks.

After being left by their owners more than 19 days ago, a group of puppies are rescued in the Ninth Ward on Sept. 16, 2005 in New Orleans.

Steve Lessing cleans up the kitchen at the Red Fish Grill on Bourbon Street to get the business back up and running as quickly as possible after Hurricane Katrina on Sept. 16, 2005 in New Orleans.

A Mardi Gras float storage shed torn apart by the high winds from Hurricane Katrina in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans was photographed on Sept. 16, 2005.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) talks on the phone amid a crowd of people gathering at the foot of Canal Street in New Orleans on Sept. 16, 2005. Stabenow and fellow senators were touring the Gulf Coast region to view Hurricane Katrina damage.

Finis Shelnutt talks on his cell phone while enjoying a mixed drink in front of his bar on an empty street off of Bourbon Street on Sept. 12, 2005 in New Orleans. More than half of the city remains under water, and National Guard troops are providing security and helping with the recovery effort.

Phyllis Small, 70, talks with her husband Ronald, 73, as he inspects the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in their home in the Lakeview area of New Orleans on Sept. 18, 2005. The couple's home is near the break in the 17th street levee caused by Hurricane Katrina.