Weakened Gustav Swipes New Orleans

Category 1 Hurricane Passes City, But Storm Surges Still Threaten; Canal Overtopped But Holds

(CBS/AP)  More than three-quarters of a million people are without power in Louisiana, as Hurricane Gustav brought torrential rains and winds to a region still recovering three years after Katrina's devastating blow.

Gustav weakened to a Category 1 hurricane this afternoon after making landfall near Cocodrie, La., early Monday. A direct hit on flood-prone New Orleans was avoided, boosting hope that the city would avoid catastrophic flooding.

At 3:00 p.m. EDT the National Hurricane Center said the center of Gustav was about 35 miles southeast of Lafayette.

Six to 12 inches of rain is expected, with an extremely dangerous storm surge of 10 to 14 feet above normal tidal levels.

The storm's winds dropped to about 90 mph with higher gusts, as the storm moved northwest near 16 mph.

Entergy Spokesman Morgan Stewart told CBS Station WWL in New Orleans there are 752,000 customers across the state without power, and noted that due to the heavy winds, in the southern part of the state, there is scarcely a road without a downed tree or power line. Cleco Corp., which has 273,000 customers in the state, said the number of customers without power was at 50,000 and growing.

At a press conference early this afternoon, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal pointed out that Gustav is bringing with it storm surges that may continue and even increase over the next several hours, so it may not be until midnight when the state can see how bad Gustav will get.

"The good news is that the storm is not slowing down; we expect it to decrease in intensity over the next 24 hours," he said.

A hurricane warning remains in effect from just east of High Island, Texas eastward to the Mississippi-Alabama border, including New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. A tropical storm warning remains in effect from east of the Mississippi-Alabama border to the Ochlockonee River.

Loss Of Life
There has been one traffic fatality reported in Louisiana, a 57-year-old woman from Jefferson whose vehicle ran off I-10 eastbound and hit a tree.

In addition, a car carrying six passengers who were fleeing the storm from Marrero, La., a suburb just south of New Orleans, veered from Interstate 20 in west Georgia around 10 p.m. Sunday night and struck a tree. A Georgia State Patrol Trooper said the driver may have fallen asleep.

Four people were killed: 27-year-old Derek Bryant, 33-year-old Lynika Kennard, 2-year-old Derk Kennard and 45-year-old Gyrone Hudson.

Property Damage
Tornadoes may have been responsible for some of the damage caused throughout southern Louisiana. In Terrabone Parish, for one, the roofs were blown off many houses, and several mobile homes were destroyed.

The storm could prove devastating to the region of fishing villages and oil-and-gas towns where a combination of factors have left the area with virtually no natural buffer against storms. Also, damage to refineries and drilling platforms could disrupt production, driving up gasoline prices.

The extent of the damage in Cajun country was not immediately clear. State officials said that as of noon they had still not reached anyone at Port Fourchon, a vital hub for the energy industry where huge amounts of oil and gas are piped inland to refineries. Gustav's passed about 20 miles from the port and there are fears the damage there could be extensive.

Jindal said that 85 percent of gas stations in southern Louisiana have no in-ground fuel. Refineries (which have shut down) have only a three-day supply.

Jindal said, "I am officially calling on the president to release fuel from the strategic petroleum reserve. We know we're going to need this fuel by Thursday."

All Eyes On Industrial Canal
In New Orleans' Upper 9th Ward about half the streets closest to the Industrial Canal were flooded with ankle- to knee-deep water as the road dipped and rose.

But city officials and the Army Corps of Engineers said they expected the levees - still only partially rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina - would hold. The canal broke during Hurricanes Betsy and Katrina, flooding St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward.

"We are seeing some overtopping waves," said Col. Jeff Bedey, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers' hurricane protection office. "We are cautiously optimistic and confident that we won't see catastrophic wall failure."

The Corps shored up parts of the canal system to address stability issues that arose following a geotechnical analysis a couple of weeks ago. A secondary wall of large, sand-filled Hesco baskets was created as a buffer between the western side of the canal and the floodwall bordering the Gentilly Woods subdivision.

So far, as water poured over the edge of the canal, those bags have held.

Mayor Ray Nagin said the city will not know until late afternoon if the vulnerable West Bank would stay dry. Worries about the level of flood protection in an area where enhancements to the levees are years from completion was a key reason Nagin was so insistent residents evacuate the city.

I am so tired of Mayor Nagen putting politics before his concern for his city. I hope he would be grateful to God for things being well taken care of. But instead he took the political route by stating "Well this is an election year". Well Mayor you had better apologize for those comments or Ike could come to really take care of you!!!

[TommyCraig]

Give it a try and see where you REALLY stand...
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 07:04 PM : Sep 01, 2008
a little left of center.

[donnie766]

Harmony.com thinks I wanna big hairy texas cowboy.. *eyeroll*

[donnie766]

There''s a internet religion test that tells ya what religion you are. It told me: "Heaven''s gator".

[donnie766]

I took that IQ test and got -8.

[realpatriot1]

nancy_Naive,

I took the test.

I''m Ghandi.

[donnie766]

Its just people.. People just wanna know from time to time that they can act stupid.. and not git arrested.

[donnie766]

People just like acting stupid sometimes. Its noth''n personal, ya know. Its just people. Politicians, being the so called ''people experts'', should realize that.

[donnie766]

They''re only doing it because they''re anonymous, patriot.

[realpatriot1]

I continue to struggle to love everyone equally in a world where others joke and brag about hating everyone equally.

[realpatriot1]

txgrouch2006,

I find the use of the world culture by you to be somewhat ironic.

roy214,

There''s nothing better than having one''s prayers answered. I put my faith in God today to watch over New Orleans. Let''s continue to pray for the other citizens effected in the Gulf, especially those in the Parish where the levee has appaently breached.

[roy214]

I have pray and God answer and I am happy and please thank be to God alleluia God is good and God is incharge God Bless America and alls it''s peoples amen .It''s a very good thing to overcome evil by good and I do believe that''s true so shall you,amen.God have not given me anything less then what me in my children''s ask for in our prayer for the peoples of new orleans in regard to gustav I am well please and thank you Lord for you are God the God almighty,amen in Jesus-Christ name I thank you my God.

[slim1h2o]

** Not the actual names, didn`t have time to write them down
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 06:11 PM : Sep 01, 2008

What are you trying to say?

That a man works from sun to sun, but womans work is never done?

LOL

[txgrouch2006]

ever hear of planning ahead and using good old plastic milk jugs?
Posted by lovesamerica at 04:50 PM : Sep 01, 2008

You just don''t understand the culture. What you have to understand is, that would involve EFFORT...

[mikebeat1]

Gotta love the irony. Focus on Family evangelical asks his congregation to pray for rain during Obama''s outdoor speech.

[txgrouch2006]

** Not the actual names, didn`t have time to write them down
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 06:11 PM : Sep 01, 2008

Oh, Nancy is here. Someone open a window.

[txgrouch2006]

This is terrible news. I was hoping to get a good deal on a new plasma TV, and I guess that is not going to happen now.
Posted by haoli25 at 05:48 PM : Sep 01, 2008

IT''S BUSH''S FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, something to blame on Bush.

[haoli25]

This is terrible news. I was hoping to get a good deal on a new plasma TV, and I guess that is not going to happen now.

[txgrouch2006]

if you watch the weather map there are 3 more storms coming so far. If you care to look beyond the conspirecy theory, there are major changes happening to our planet and it is no ones fault except HUMANS.
Posted by lovesamerica at 03:23 PM : Sep 01, 2008

Oh, jeepers creepers. We humans are so evil, we should be banished from this planet... LOL!

Have you ever heard of the ICE AGE??? Were humans to blame for that??? I hear it warmed up since then. Is that our fault, too?

During the 1600''s there was a "mini ice age." Crops failed and there was massive starvation for a century or so. Did we cause that?

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE HAPPENS. It''s a fact of history. Maybe we have a tiny bit of a contribution to it. But the current warming trend would be happening with us or without us.

And as for you hope that more hurricanes will give MORE CHANCES for your gloom and doom to come true - SORRY!!! The more hurricanes cross the Gulf of Mexico, the cooler the water gets and the WEAKER the next hurricane will be.

I''m sure you''re SO DISAPPOINTED to learn that...

Sorry libtards - no human catastrophe for you today.

[lovesamerica]

negro voter, bottled water? ever hear of planning ahead and using good old plastic milk jugs?