Hurricane Rita, which hit the US Gulf Coast over the weekend, pushed water over the damaged flood levees in New Orleans, causing more flooding in the impoverished lower 9th Ward.

According to local reports, the flooding came from four sections in the Industrial Canal where levee repairs were underway following Hurricane Katrina in late August. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) dropped 400 sandbags, weighing 7000 pounds each, to stop the water coming into the city. Once the flooding was contained, USACE were able to begin re-pumping water out of the city.

It is expected that some parts of the city will be dry within a week.