MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said his city will never be totally safe from hurricanes, no matter how much its levees are strengthened, but he urged Hurricane Katrina evacuees Wednesday night to come home anyway.
Nagin spoke to a crowd of more than 700 at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church - many of them evacuees - as he continued his come-home campaign to rebuild New Orleans. He made the same plea to evacuees in Houston over the weekend and is scheduled to appear Saturday in Atlanta.
Nagin sought to assure the evacuees that life in New Orleans is "getting better every day."
Restoring utilities and removing millions of tons of storm debris began in areas where the work would go more quickly, including the French Quarter and other parts of town most favored by tourists, Nagin said.
Now, the restoration of city services is spreading to the more heavily damaged neighborhoods, and "we'll be above 300,000 people that could potentially live in the city before the beginning of the year."
New Orleans had more than 485,000 residents before the hurricane hit, and evacuees remain scattered across the country.
The mayor's attempt to encourage homecomings was hard for some evacuees to accept.
Ashley El-Amin, 29, said she was not encouraged by Nagin's comment that fast-food restaurants and hotels are offering salaries much higher than before the hurricane.
El-Amin, a former counselor for troubled teenagers, said such jobs "won't even pay half of my college loans."
"I'm not a welder. I'm not a plumber. I'm not an electrician. How can I go back home and make some money?" she asked.
El-Amin said she also was upset by the city's announcement that Mardi Gras, though scaled back, will take place early next year.
"This is not the time to party," she said.
