Quick response to strong weather in La.

NEW ORLEANS -- An hour after city officials opened shelters, warned of possible power outages and urged calm ahead of a threatening tropical depression, the system moved inland hundreds of miles away, and forecasters canceled the tropical storm warning that had authorities on alert.

Under partly cloudy, pale-blue skies Saturday, some in this city devastated by Hurricane Katrina two years ago wondered if it was a bit much.

For several days this week, weather reports on local newscasts keyed on an area of low pressure that, on Friday, became Tropical Depression No. 10 -- and, potentially, the region's first major brush with tropical weather since hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which hit in August and September 2005, respectively.

City spokesman James Ross said while there's no "foolproof plan" for making decisions about emergency preparedness, "our highest responsibility is to ensure that our residents are never in harm's way when it can be prevented."