http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0307katrina0307.html

Homes are razed in New Orleans

Mar. 7, 2006 12:00 AM

NEW ORLEANS - The slow and emotional job of demolishing homes wrecked beyond repair by Hurricane Katrina began Monday, a key step in the cleanup process that also could lead to the discovery of more bodies.

Three homes were torn down, the first of 118 planned, in three of the worst-hit neighborhoods where floodwaters lifted buildings off their foundations and blocked streets or other rights of way.

Activists had sued in December to stop the bulldozing out of fear homeowners wouldn't be notified or have a chance to pick through their belongings. City officials agreed in January to a notification process, saying they wanted to quickly tear down only homes that posed an imminent threat to safety.

Herbert Warren Jr. stopped by to watch an excavator scoop out the innards of the small wood-frame home he purchased in 1962 and raised eight children in.

The structure had landed one street over from its foundation, behind a brick Baptist church.

"The thing is we thought we had it made, and then this!" the 77-year-old retired longshoreman said. With no plans to rebuild on the land, Warren, who was evacuated with his wife to Houston, said he was uncertain about what he will do.

Dogs trained to find bodies will search the sites before demolition begins.