Nagin Okays Rebuilding Plan

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin approved the rebuilding plan sponsored by the Bring New Orleans Back Commission, which he started after Hurricane Katrina. Nagin, facing reelection pressures, announced that hard-hit areas like the Lower Ninth Ward will not be turned into parks. However, while saying that residents in those areas had the option of, "rebuilding on [their] own," he advised them to be cautious. Nagin underscored the lack of adequate levee protection and how residents were still endangered. The plan was criticized by citizens from some lower income areas who charged that the city does not want them to come back.

The Mayor acknowledged the importance of the levee system to the recovery of the city. Without Category 5 levees, rebuilding might be for naught. That is why it so important for the levee system to be repaired and upgraded as soon as possible.