A good rain from Hurricane Rita can go a long way in washing away dirt and other residue in the New Orleans area left behind by Hurricane Katrina, according to a University of Dayton civil engineering lecturer specializing in water and environmental resources.

"Of course, that is assuming the pump stations are fully operational," said Don Chase, a former U.S. Army engineer for the Waterways Experiment Station. "The pumps are designed to handle heavy rains."

Chase said fortifying the pumps against being submerged again and clearing all storm drains of trash should be among the region's top priorities in advance of a possible strike by Hurricane Rita. Otherwise, the area risks more localized flooding.

Any risk of the pumps backing up or clogging should be minimal, as they are designed to filter out debris and handle some sludge. Also, much of the sediment will run off before reaching the pumps.

The grime will be discharged into area streams, rivers and lakes, but Chase stressed the concerns of those on land should, for the moment, outweigh the environmental water concerns.

"There will be an environmental impact to dumping this material back into the rivers and lakes, but this is an emergency situation," Chase said.

If New Orleans takes a direct hit from Hurricane Rita, Chase said it is a "sitting duck" and the temporary levee patches probably would not hold.

"Should there be another event of Katrina's magnitude, there will be just as much flooding," Chase said. "The repairs maybe could withstand a Category 1 or possibly even a Category 2 storm. You also have to hope the flood walls that didn't fail during Katrina don’t fail now."

Chase said the situation will improve once water and wastewater treatment plants come back online. After that, people can focus on structural damage.

What should parents do when children see disturbing images of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the media and become frightened?

Keri J. Brown Kirschman, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Dayton who teaches courses in child psychology, offers a number of ways for parents to help children:

* Provide opportunities to talk: "Young children are likely to form an incorrect guess of how the disaster happened and may believe that their own family is also at risk for such a disaster," she said. "Young children may not understand that these events happened hundreds of miles away. Parents should ask children what they think happened and give children an opportunity to ask questions in order to help uncover and talk about any erroneous ideas. Be sure to be honest in answering questions in an age-appropriate way."

* Don't push: "Some children and adolescents may be coping ok with the news. Be sure that children of all ages know that they can talk about it at any time, but do not push them to discuss," she said.

* Stick to routines: "Children should be reassured of their safety. Children feel most safe when they are on their usual routines, so stick to normal meal and bedtimes," she said. "Keep up with those activities that your child finds enjoyable."

* Give: "Children will benefit from the opportunity to give to the relief cause. Hands-on activities like a lemonade stand, a bake sale or drawing pictures to put with items to be donated will help children feel good about contributing," she noted.

* Limit television viewing: "Parents should limit their own viewing of the hurricane coverage. During this difficult time, adults will likely feel stressed and anxious regarding the situation. Even children who are not directly watching the news may pick up on and react to parental distress. Similarly, limit adult conversations regarding the graveness of the situation in front of children."

Is the media turning hurricane Katrina into a crime story? A law and communications professor says coverage has been harmful.

What started out as coverage of a horrific natural disaster has turned into a national crime story, according to a law and communications professor at the University of Dayton.

Dennis Greene said the television and print images of the disaster, in particular those coming out of New Orleans, may polarize the rest of the country and deter people from helping.

"The media is obsessed with people looting and stealing TVs, and the fact is that's just a part of what's going on," Greene said. "You have a large mass of people in a desperate, isolated situation being told to congregate in one place where nothing is being delivered to them and the majority of people going into the stores are taking water and absolute necessities. When you focus on the 'sensational' aspects of a few, what's the objective?

"The media has already defined the area as a war zone of 'refugees' instead of evacuees. This kind of coverage gets us as a nation to disassociate ourselves from thinking of these people as Americans and dehumanizes what truly is an American tragedy."

Greene contends that the disproportionate amount of attention on the negativity and chaos hurts the national consciousness and Americans' ability to identify with the terrible conditions people are suffering.

"When you see images of the National Guard carrying rifles into the crowds instead of bottles of water, it turns the disaster into an armed camp," Greene said. "What is the real purpose of focusing on the protection of material goods that are covered by insurance and will be damaged by the salt water and sewage surrounding them, when the real issue is that people are dying and the elderly and children need food, water and medication?"

Greene said minimal attention has been given to other issues, such as government aid, reallocation of military dollars and the physical structure of a city sitting under sea level that was never prepared to function above a level three hurricane.

"When you have a story this complex and catastrophic, the media has the opportunity to target and identify information that can assist in recovery and relief," Greene said. "Focusing on the 'great black terror' roaming the streets does not help motivate more effective involvement. Playing upon stereotypes is very dangerous because it may hinder having more lives saved.

"When the media plays a part by exacerbating urban anxiety and fear, it may not be a conscious effort, but shows their own alienation and codes the person watching and reading this to say, 'Look what those people are doing to themselves,' " Greene said.

"This is one of the oldest cities in the U.S., but we're treating it like a foreign country," Greene said. "It's not a time for polarization, but a time to come together, and the media can play a pivotal role in that."

After Hurricane Katrina's wind and rain leave New Orleans, residents could face crumbling building foundations and unsanitary living conditions, according to a University of Dayton civil engineering lecturer specializing in water and environmental resources.

"From an engineering standpoint, this may be worse than Hurricane Andrew because of the amount of standing water," said Don Chase, a former U.S. Army Engineer for the Waterways Experiment Station. "In a situation like this, there is more to worry about than just the wind and the rain."

Most concrete foundations will be fine, but brick and mortar foundations that didn't crumble in the wind could do so under the weight of the water left behind by Hurricane Katrina.

Underground storage systems used to store gas and chemicals should be at the top of the list of concerns, according to Chase. Any water seeping into the containers can render the contents useless.

If New Orleans' water pumps are submerged, the diesel fuel used to run them could be contaminated as well.

"Then, they may have to bring in portable pumps," Chase said. "And that would be like draining a pool with a spoon."

Chase also warns of cesspool conditions because of sewage backups.

"Even if water is waist-deep, I wouldn't advise walking in it," said Chase, a co-author of two articles on water transmission and distribution systems.

Chase doesn't believe there will be a second round of flooding for New Orleans as Katrina moves north and soaks Mississippi River tributaries.

"Any rain from Sunday and Monday should be in the Gulf of Mexico before the runoff from the Ohio Valley arrives," Chase said.

He also doubts there will be a first round of significant flooding for the Ohio Valley.

"We need the rain in the worst way," Chase said. "If we receive two to three inches of rain in 36 to 48 hours, there may be some localized flooding but I doubt there will be anything widespread."

The economic impact of Hurricane Katrina could hit local area harder than rest of U.S., UD expert says.

The local economic impact of Hurricane Katrina will be difficult to predict until there has been an accurate assessment of the long-term damage to the Gulf Coast's refinery capacity, said Richard Stock, director of the University of Dayton’s Business Research Group and an expert on the Dayton-area economy.

If the hurricane caused a great deal of damage to the Gulf Coast's refinery capacity, prices for such consumer goods as gasoline likely will rise substantially, he said. On the other hand, if the damage is manageable, gas prices likely will remain slightly elevated at around $3 to $3.25 a gallon.

Yet the local economy could suffer even if those slightly elevated prices stick around for very long.

"I’ve seen estimates that suggest if those price increases in gasoline persist, then we could see one percentage point shaved off the nation's economic growth rate in this quarter," Stock said. "The Dayton-area economy hasn't been growing in pace with rest of country, so moving from a 3 percent growth rate to a 2 percent rate will affect job growth.

"Plus, persistence in high prices would hit the market for SUVs, which would be a problem for the General Motors Moraine plant," Stock added.

The long-term economic impact of Katrina will be difficult to separate from other ongoing challenges to the local economy — particularly the significant decline in manufacturing jobs from which the region has yet to recover.

Since Hurricane Katrina is a natural disaster unlike any the United States has faced previously, it's even more difficult to predict the storm's long-term economic impact.

"People will be tempted to compare it to the oil boycott of 1979, but this is fundamentally different because the real serious issue here is the potential damage to refinery capacity," Stock said. "Plus it's not as bad as it would have been in 1979 or 1980, because our dependence on oil is not as severe.

"But a blow to a metropolitan economy like New Orleans is major," he added. "If you pull one thing out of the infrastructure, it has all kinds of implications for the economy that are difficult to predict. You're suddenly wiping out some integral part of the overall national economy for at least a month."