Where "New Orleans" Stands Today

This New York Times excerpt gives us a glance into the progress made in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina:

Many of the hardest-hit neighborhoods remain stuck where they have been for months, with a few houses on a block occupied and the rest in varying stages of abandonment or repair. In Broadmoor, one block might appear carefully restored by residents, while another will seem derelict. Vacant grassy lots newly pepper the city, ambiguous signs of progress: blighted houses recently sat on them, but construction has often not followed demolition.

And they wonder why people are so frustrated.

More FEMA News

The last thing someone who needs FEMA assistance wants to hear is "may", "might", and "unclear". The latest FEMA news, however, does not help clear up how those in need will be assisted:

The federal government Friday announced an infusion of more than $1 million that will keep private case-management workers on the job at least two more months, helping more than 4,000 Louisiana families still trying to recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Beyond that, FEMA announced it will provide an undetermined amount of money to finance more case-management work until the spring of 2009. One FEMA official said that second-phase money might target families still in temporary housing, although much about that initiative remained unclear.

Financing case management is one thing; but what exactly will those case managers be doing?

Katrina Relief Network To Close

A network of private relief workers that helped thousands of battered families put their lives together after Hurricane Katrina has begun unraveling with thousands of families still on waiting lists, even as its managers cast about for new sources of money to keep it going at a reduced level.

As the network shrinks, about 4,600 families will have to wait longer for help, officials of the network said. Some might become entangled in more red tape -- and face longer waits -- as their files are shifted from laid-off workers into new hands.

Members of the network are sorting through their cases, trying to prioritize which families need immediate help before the program shuts down March 31 and their cases are transferred, said Tom Costanza, a local Catholic Charities relief executive who leads the board of the Greater New Orleans Disaster Recovery Partnership, a coalition of private relief groups.

Port of New Orleans to Undergo Expansion

The Port of New Orleans, battered by Hurricane Katrina 2½ years ago, will undergo a $1 billion expansion that port officials say will be key to the city's economic rebound.

The port's plans come as much of the rest of the city struggles to return to pre-Katrina conditions. The centerpiece of the plan is a $478 million expansion to the port's container cargo terminal that would increase its capacity, according to a copy of the plan released Tuesday.

The expansion to its container operations would help New Orleans capture some of the projected boom in international shipping in the coming decade and infuse the city with much-needed jobs and revenue, said Gary LaGrange, the port's president and CEO.

Two Louisiana Insurance Lawsuits To Be Heard

The state's high court will hear its first Hurricane Katrina insurance payment case Tuesday, and later in the day, will hear its first Hurricane Rita insurance case. And if the Supreme Court rules in favor of policyholders in either case, it would trump federal court rulings in similar cases that have gone in favor of insurance companies.

The most significant case for New Orleans area residents is Joseph Sher's lawsuit against Lafayette Insurance Co. The 92-year-old Holocaust survivor claims Lafayette's homeowner's insurance policy -- along with most others used by the industry -- should have covered the water that flowed into his Uptown fourplex because of the failure of man-made flood-control structures.

The other case originated with southwest Louisiana residents Mark and Barbara Landry, who claim the 108-year-old "valued policy" law forces Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which covered them for wind but not flood, to pay the full value of their totaled home, even though storm surge was responsible for some of the damage.