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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Officials have cleared and cleaned a homeless encampment in New Orleans where about 160 people had been living in tents, on cardboard boxes and other makeshift beds.
Police, homeless advocates and other volunteers made the sweep Thursday. The camp was located underneath an overpass less than a mile from the Superdome, where the NFL's New Orleans Saints play. Sofas, armchairs, clothes and magazines were tossed into garbage trucks and the concrete was hosed down.
City officials say they have been preparing for the sweep and that there are enough beds in shelters for the homeless. Officials say the area has become a health hazard and is attracting rats.
The area has been cleared of homeless people periodically over the last three years, including in late 2012 before the Super Bowl.
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