year-old accountant. Nagin also pitched in, and thanked Debby Poitevent, 59, the owner of the women's shoe store Feet First, when she said she was determined to reopen in the Uptown district. "We're not leaving," she told Nagin. While Uptown residents slowly got back to their day-to-day lives, Nagin said the city's last closed-off neighborhood may reopen to residents next week. Half of the poor, mostly black Lower Ninth Ward that was flooded after Hurricane Katrina struck on Aug. 29 reopened this week to residents during daylight hours. The other half is still shut because large amounts of debris remain strewn all over the streets. "They tell me it's dry, and I'm going to try and drive through there before the weekend is out," Nagin said. "Once I see it we may be on our normal schedule which is normally we open up a new area on Wednesday." Also Saturday, repairs began on New Orleans' Superdome. The football stadium, where survivors of Katrina took refuge from floods that devastated the city, was badly damaged by the storm. Nagin said the stadium could be repaired within a year.
