Katrina's Odd Couple

By Tim Padgett, Amanda Ripley

The men charged with rebuilding New Orleans -- Mayor Ray Nagin and President Bush's Katrina recovery chief, Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen -- are an unlikely pair. Nagin is a tall, debonair ex-corporate bigwig who shoots from the hip; the stocky Allen prefers organizational charts to oratory. The two clashed last week when Nagin called on some 180,000 evacuees to return to dried-out districts--a move Allen publicly labeled "extremely problematic." Nagin fired back that Allen was trying to be "the new crowned federal mayor of New Orleans."

But both men tell TIME they are trying to find ways to complement, not irritate, each other for the city's sake. "We have absolutely buried the hatchet," says Nagin. Allen says he appreciates the enormous pressure Nagin feels: "We need to recognize the challenge the mayor's got in front of him. New Orleans is a city that was completely taken down." Nagin says they now talk at least once a day. Last week they even exchanged gifts. Nagin gave Allen an I cH- N.O. T-shirt. Allen gave Nagin a map of the distribution of evacuees across the country. Even in rapprochement, their personalities shone through. --By Tim Padgett and Amanda Ripley