'Katrina cars' finally getting towed from streets of New Orleans

TERRA.WIRE

'Katrina cars' finally getting towed from streets of New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, June 19 (AFP) Jun 20, 2006
Nearly 10 months after Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana officials on Monday began hauling away more than 100,000 flooded cars and boats the storm left strewn across New Orleans and southern Louisiana.

State officials say the clean up should be complete by August 30 -- one year and a day after Katrina slammed into the Louisiana coast.

The massive scope of the job, changes in contractors, and concerns that citizens be given ample time to reclaim their private vehicles were all cited as reasons the clean up has taken so long.

"Quite frankly I share the same frustration everyone else does," said Chuck Brown, a spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

The clean-up effort will include boats and cars abandoned after Hurricane Rita in southwestern Louisiana, officials said.

A 33 million dollar contract to haul away the abandoned vehicles has been awarded to a private Alabama company that plans to hire local drivers to help with the massive tow job.