Good luck getting the drinking water back up along the Gulf. From what I understand that is one of the biggest obstacles to repopulation.
Rita was kind of a dud, wasn't it? (Thank goodness). I read that the only fatalities were from the evacuation, not from the hurricane itself. Of course, after Katrina no one was taking any chances.
>Since I work in the Region 6 office of EPA, I have been quite busy assisting in our own efforts. Primarily in support of our work with Louisiana in getting public (drinking) water systems back online, monitored for contamination, etc. For a while there, I thought I would be helping my own family - sister and brother-in-law just north of Houston and my parents just west of Houston. Since Rita landed far enough east of them, my sister only had a 2 day power outage and some scattered tree debris.
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>In case you are interested, there is a GIS map on systems still down at:
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http://www.epa.gov/region6/katrina/>