NOAA Predicts Very Active 2006 Hurricane Season

A very active hurricane season for 2006 is looming for the north Atlantic region, according to statements issued in late May by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Hurricane season started June 1, and while the NOAA is urging preparedness for the season’s coming storms, some battered regions in the Gulf Coast region are still struggling to recover from last year.

The cleanup from Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, is almost complete in some areas, while in others, the progress is not so far along.

“Mississippi is doing OK,” says Michael Taylor, executive director of the National Demolition Association. “An awful lot of the initial cleanup has been completed.”

More than 41 million cubic yards of debris have been removed from Mississippi, according to a press release from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). About 1.70 million cubic yards of debris, or about 4 percent of the total debris statewide, remains to be removed. FEMA reports that debris removal is complete in 75 of Mississippi’s 82 counties.

Cleanup in New Orleans has been moving at a slower pace, with only approximately 46 percent of debris removal complete in the city nearly nine months after the storm, according to a report in the Hattiesburg American (Hattiesburg, Miss.). According to the “Situation of New Orleans Report” released from the office of newly re-elected Mayor Ray Nagin on June 2, the estimated amount of debris in the New Orleans area is 50 million cubic yards. Approximately 8.2 million cubic yards of debris has been removed from the city. The report also states that the remaining debris has been pushed to the sides of the roads, making them passable.

Taylor says part of the hold up is that New Orleans officials have not made a final decision on what areas of the city will be demolished and rebuilt.

Some progress is being made preparing the city for the 2006 hurricane season, however. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has reported that 169 miles of Mississippi River and New Orleans area levees and floodwalls have been repaired and restored.

Taylor says his sources have reported that a decent amount of work is going on, accomplished mostly by local hires and small businesses. He also says that many of the logistical problems that stood in the way of cleaning up New Orleans, such as where workers would stay, have been alleviated.

“All the cities are making progress, but the people who go down there are still stunned nine months later at the level of devastation,” Taylor says.