Cleaning up after Andrew
SQUADS of workers fanned out across storm-battered Louisiana yesterday to begin a massive rebuilding effort after Hurricane Andrew had flattened whole districts, killing two people and injuring dozens more, agencies report from Florida and New Orleans. However, local officials in Florida, hit earlier in the week by the hurricane, were critical of what they called a delay in supplying food, drinking water and other supplies for thousands of people in need. Federal emergency officials acknowledged distribution problems, Transportation Secretary Andrew Card yesterday promised 'dramatic' improvements within 24 hours and President George Bush last night ordered troops to Florida, without specifying a number. The government estimated it would cost Dollars 20bn-Dollars 30bn to tidy and rebuild in Florida, and to care for residents displaced by the storm. Louisiana state officials said they had no overall count of storm-related injuries but initial estimates reckoned fewer than 100. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was setting aside Dollars 77m to help Louisiana recover. Most of the storm's fury was spent against sparsely populated farming communities and swampland in the state, sparing it the widespread destruction caused in Florida, where 15 people died. Official estimates in Miami reported that the hurricane had wiped out the homes of one Dade County resident in eight - a quarter of a million people. Andrew had become little more than a strong rainstorm early yesterday, moving across Mississippi state and heading for the north-eastern US. Several of Louisiana's main industries were affected, including those of oysters and alligators. Wildlife and fisheries secretary Joe Herring estimated a 50 per cent decline in the alligator industry. The cotton and sugar-cane crops were threatened, the state agriculture department said. Most Louisiana oil refineries, however, were barely affected and deliveries of crude oil were expected to resume yesterday.
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