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Officials clash on people returning to New Orleans as toll hits 883
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-19 09:59

US Federal and local authorities on Sunday clashed over whether New Orleans was ready for residents to return, putting in doubt efforts to quickly resettle the devastated city, Reuters reported.

Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, head of the federal recovery efforts in New Orleans, said the city lacked most of the basic services -- such as drinkable water, sewage and electricity --- that residents would need.

Tens of thousands of New Orleans' residents ravaged by Hurricane Katrina nearly three weeks ago remain housed in temporary shelters across the country, with many poised to return home when officials permit.

A dog stands on a flooded street of the ninth area in New Orleans September 18, 2005. [Reuters]

Mayor Ray Nagin has been encouraging many to return this week, but Allen said he was far more cautious after consulting with the heads of the Environmental Protection Administration and the Centers for Disease Control.

Allen also warned the city's levees risked being breached again if another storm hit.

"If you bring significant amounts of people into New Orleans, you need an evacuation plan on how you're going to do that," said during a round of appearances on FOX News, NBC and CNN on Sunday.

A heavy machinery removes debris from a destroyed house on a street of ninth area in New Orleans September 18, 2005. [Reuters]

"The announcement to move the repopulation ahead of any of those completed tasks in our view puts the city at risk," he added.

Allen said he and the mayor planned to meet on Monday.

Many residents lined up at military checkpoints around the city on Saturday to get a first look at their ravaged homes after the mayor and city officials laid out plans to let them return.

Nagin defended his call for many citizens to return, saying the repopulation was vital to New Orleans' revival.

"We believe our reentry plan properly balances safety concerns and the needs of our citizens to begin rebuilding their lives," Nagin said in a statement on Saturday.

Katrina's death toll so far stands at 816, with 579 of those in Louisiana, 218 in Mississippi and a total of 19 in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee.

Medical experts in New Orleans said they feared a "second disaster" as returning residents suffered injuries amid the rubble, toppled trees and dangling power lines.

"The second wave of disaster is when you welcome the people back and the infrastructure of the city is not in place," said Dr. Peter Deblieux, an emergency room doctor at downtown New Orleans' Charity Hospital.

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