NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The administration of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin will soon take control of local home demolitions once the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers leaves the area.
While the corps has been responsible for nearly half of the demolitions since Hurricane Katrina two years ago, the full responsibility for the effort will now be placed in local officials' hands, The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Friday.
The current demolition system, which has leveled nearly 9,000 local homes, ends Sept. 29 when the corps closes its Louisiana Recovery Field Office.
The federal group, which hired contractors to level nearly 4,300 of those homes, has been ordered out by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Field office Director Mike Smith told the newspaper the move indicates part of a gradual effort by the federal government to withdraw federal emergency resources from New Orleans.
"The National Response Plan dictates that, once FEMA has determined that state and local governments are able to manage the remaining work with FEMA funding and assistance, the corps recovery volunteers go home," Smith said in a statement.
The Times-Picayune said that approximately 6,000 more local homes may have to be leveled before the demolition plan is complete.
