"We just finished cleaning up hurricane debris in mid-December," Mr. Benoit said.

Another 26% sustained minor damage from partial roof removal, low levels of flooding, or impact with floating or wind driven hurricane debris.

She worked with the Sanitation Director to remove hurricane debris and provide new garbage collection services to the city.

The Seabees cleared hurricane debris, repaired roads, erected tents, and otherwise assisted fellow service members.

The state estimates that 7.2 million tons of hurricane debris remains to be cleaned up; the Chef Menteur landfill will take 2.6 million tons.

Firefighting experts across the country are bracing for what they say could become the worst fire season in the nation's history, a result of drought, hurricane debris and a lack of manpower.

While nobody seems to know how many are here, there is plenty of work; the federal government estimates it will spend more than $450 million just to clean up hurricane debris.

Once they arrive, Bonnie is appalled to see Max hopping through hurricane debris and gutted houses with his video camera, treating the devastation as a tourist attraction.

But even the cleanup remains incomplete: almost a third of the hurricane debris in New Orleans has yet to be removed.

Many fear that even before the economic impact is felt, wildfires feeding on the hurricane debris that litters the forest floor in piles up to 10 feet high will cause another disaster.