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Show t h e Utah Statesman Special 'Features.. Wednesday, Aug. 30,2006 21 Year after Katrina, large questions loom about New Orleans'future BY MICHELLE ROBERTS , Associated Press Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The city was barely dry when Terrie Guerin made the decision to rebuild her home, wrecked by Hurricane Katrinas floodwaters. It was a decision she made with her heart: "I wanted to keep a part of what I had before. I was trying to hold on to family, memories of family." And she was inspired by what her native city might become if given a chance to start anew. But "now, well..." Guerin's voice trails off. A long year has passed since Katrina struck, and despite multiple planning efforts, it remains unclear what will become of this woeful city. Will the Big Easy become what the optimists hope: a well-functioning metropolis that retains its beloved 300year history of wrought iron balconies and quirky traditions? Or will it suffer the fate Guerin fears, one of neglect and unfulfilled promises? Will "the city that care forgot" decompose into a gutted, boarded-up eyesore while public officials and residents bicker over vision and money? The stakes, for residents and anyone who loves this unique place, couldn't be higher. "If we don't pull it off, we will have lost one of the most important opportunities an American city has ever had," says Norman Francis, president of Xavier University and the man tapped to lead the state board overseeing the distribution of $11.9 billion in federal aid. No one expected the recovery to go quickly. Eighty percent of the city was swamped when the levees broke after Katrina blew ashore on Aug. 29, 2005. Virtually all 465,000 residents of the city and roughly 1 million more in surrounding areas were forced to flee; much of the housing was heavily damaged or destroyed. Still, civic leaders and others were optimistic once the water receded. The city could be reinvented — less vulnerable to devastating flooding and without the violent crime and poor schools that had plagued New Orleans, they said. But in the year since the storm, planning has become a stutter-step process, with no master plan yet complete. The failure has held up federal infrastructure aid, and for residents like Guerin, it has contributed to a sense of idleness and a creeping fear that a great opportunity is being squandered. New Orleans "could outdo Atlanta. It could bypass New York, but it will only be on paper," says Guerin, 46, who moved back into her home in heavily damaged eastern New Orleans just days before Tuesday's one-year anniversary. "A lot of plans will come out of this. They'll come up with some great infrastructure, but it will never materialize." The reminders of how far borhoods. But when the work is complete, it will represent only the plans of separate communities, not the city as a whole. Yet another planning process, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Greater New Orleans Foundation, began just last month. GNO Foundation President Ben Johnson says the new plan will incorporate some of the neighborhood plans. The new proposal will not be done until December, Johnson says. It will probably take months longer to be adopted by the City Council. "We're falling behind," Students Free Aug 28th-Sept 7th 9pm-Midnight orts Academy — &Racquet Club- • KATRINA-ONE YEAR see page 22 Fall Into LA Times photo KATRINA MONEY. Clark Gable Kent reclines under a leaky roof amid mold and exposed sheetrock walls in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward. the city still has to go are everywhere. New Orleans has only about half its preKatrina population. White trailers line streets in many of the most heavily damaged neighborhoods, where the sidewalks are still littered with debris and abandoned homes are overgrown with weeds. Only half the number of pre-Katrina customers are getting electricity. Six of nine New Orleans hospitals remain shuttered. Only 54 of 128 public schools are opening this fall. A huge plan put together by Mayor Ray Nagin's Bring New Orleans Back Commission was scuttled after residents decried proposals for a four-month building moratorium and green spaces in low-lying areas. The City Council started more planning by hiring a consultant to work with the most heavily flooded neigh- I AP-IPSOS POLL [ Bush's approval rating The majority of people polled disapprove of the way President Bush handled Hurricane Katrina. Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush handled Hurricane Katrina? Approve Disapprove , 31% | Sign up in September and enter to GET YOUR BOOKS PAID FOR (UP TO $600) •-*«- How often do you worry about being a victim of a disaster like a hurricane, tornado or earthquake? 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