Anti-looting squads were dispatched "as a precaution" to the heavily damaged areas, police said.

"This is unfortunate," Carnival historian Errol Laborde told AFP. "But I think things will be cleared up soon. By tomorrow night, people will be reveling again."

Mardi Gras is a major source of revenue for the city whose economy is dependant upon the tourism industry, and the celebrations usually get under way two weeks before Fat Tuesday, which falls on February 20 this year.

This year's festivities are expected to be bigger and brasher than last year's party, held just six months after Katrina killed more than 1,300 people and flooded more than 80 percent of the city.

But the parade schedule has been truncated as the city struggles to rebuild. Half the population is still scattered across the country and entire neighborhoods remain abandoned to rot.

"It's lucky that there are no parades scheduled for tonight," Laborde said. Some New Orleanians joked as they waited for power to return, or for phone calls from insurance companies they dealt with after Katrina.

"There's a sense of humor about it," said City Council member Shelley Midura, who represents the hard-hit Carrollton area.

"One resident told me drainage is more important. So, the people of New Orleans are going to be OK."

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