It appears the French Quarter and parts of the Garden District might have been spared the worst...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/03/kat...ter/index.html
At any rate.....here is a timeline for recovery a friend emailed me:
60 days....pump out water.
90 days.....search for and remove bodies.
90 days.....inspect buildings to see what is salvagable/beyond repair.
120 days....bulldoze what can't be fixed.
120 days.....remove trash and bulldozed buildings.
It seems there would be some overlap with these processes, but still, a long haul.
Also, this timeline makes no mention of bridge and road repair, and that is a big factor also.
Of course, if NOLA gets hits with another storm (even as small as just a thunderstorm dumping an inch of rain)it sets all this back a bit.