USA: Mardi Gras revelry brings New Orleans hope

Thousands lined the sidewalks and filled the streets of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana to celebrate Mardi Gras or "Fat Tuesday." The celebrations took part just blocks from neighbourhoods still in ruin, damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Dancing, drinking revellers crowded the streets of New Orleans on Tuesday (February 20, 2007) as colourful parades rolled through the damaged city on the final day of a Mardi Gras that locals touted as another step in the long recovery from Hurricane Katrina. People in colourful costumes paraded down the streets, some poking fun at local officials for their handling of the storm that ravaged the city in 2005. One group carried masks of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and President George W. Bush. Others watched from high on balconies in the French Quarter, throwing beads to eager partiers below. Children and families could be seen celebrating at the annual Zulu parade, thrown by the New Orleans Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club. As is traditional, the predominantly black krewe, or club, Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club led off the final day's festivities with a parade in which they tossed gold-painted coconuts to the crowds. Though there are no exact crowd estimates, the turnout was considerably higher than last year's scaled down Mardi Gras celebration, which took place just 6 months after the Katrina flooded 80 percent of the city, killing 1300 and destroying nearly all New Orleans' homes and businesses. This year's more traditional celebrations possibly mark progress in the city's return to normalcy after the storm. Thousands lined the sidewalks just blocks from neighborhoods hard hit by the Aug. 29, 2005, storm to beg for beads thrown by masked "krewe" members on passing floats as this year's Carnival season came to an end. In the French Quarter, people tossed beads -- "throws" in New Orleans lingo -- from balconies overlooking Bourbon Street where partiers jostled through crowded streets with drinks in hand. Neither police nor local tourism officials gave attendance estimates, but local experts said crowds for the pre-Lenten celebration that began Feb. 9 were larger than last year, when the city put on a scaled-down Mardi Gras. Before Katrina, the city said 1 million came to town every year. While merriment was the order of the day, Katrina was still on everyone's mind. Katrina flooded 80 percent of the historic city and killed more than 1,300 people when it burst surrounding levees. Many neighborhoods are still in ruins, but the French Quarter and wealthy Uptown area, located on higher ground and where tourist concentrate, were not badly damaged. The city was mostly abandoned after Katrina, with refugees scattering across the country following days of crime-ridden chaos as help failed to arrive. Only about 200,000 people of the pre-storm population 480,000 have returned as most homeowners are still awaiting government aid to rebuild their homes. Crime has been on the upswing, with 27 murders so far in 2007, but did not affect Mardi Gras events.

ITN Source | February 21, 2007

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