New Orleans Residents Come Home To Outages

More Than 1 Million Homes, Businesses In Gustav-Struck Gulf Coast Still Without Power

(AP)  New Orleans' mayor reluctantly allowed frustrated residents to begin returning to the Hurricane Gustav-struck city, while more than a million homes and businesses across three U.S. Gulf states were still without electricity and officials said it could take as long as a month to fully restore power.

As residents returned Wednesday, President George W. Bush returned to the site of one his presidency's biggest failures to show that the government had turned a corner since its bungled response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Faced with traffic backups on paths into the city, Mayor Ray Nagin gave up checking identification badges and automobile placards designed to keep residents out until early Thursday. Those who returned said if the city was safe enough for repair crews and health care workers, it was safe enough for them, too.

"People need to get home, need to get their houses straight and get back to work," said George Johnson, who used back roads to sneak into the city. "They want to keep you out of your own property. That's just not right."

But once back at home, many people had no power and no idea when it might return. Outages were widespread across Louisiana and thousands more lost power in parts of Mississippi and Arkansas.

"There is no excuse for the delay. We absolutely need to quicken the pace at which power is restored," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said.

Even as the region sought a return to normalcy, there were fresh reminders that the 2008 hurricane season is far from over.

In the Caribbean, Tropical Storm Hanna pounded flood-plagued Haiti and was blamed for at least 61 deaths. It was tentatively predicted to hit the U.S.'s east coast somewhere along South Carolina and North Carolina. A hurricane storm watch was issued Thursday for part of the area.

A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours.

Farther out to sea, Hurricane Ike spun westward across the Atlantic as a Category 4 on a scale of 1 to 5, and could arrive in the Bahamas on Sunday. Tropical Storm Josephine followed, behind Ike.

In Louisiana, restoring power was critical to reopening schools, businesses and neighborhoods. Without electricity, gas stations could not pump fuel and hospitals were running out of fuel for generators.

Some places never lost power, including the Superdome, where the Saints, the city's professional American football team, planned to open their regular season Sunday.

In nearby Jefferson Parish, which also reopened Wednesday, officials reported that most sewage-treatment stations were out of service because there was no power. The parish urged residents not to flush toilets, wash clothes or dishes, or even take showers out of concern that the system might backup and send sewage flowing in home and businesses.

After touring an emergency center and flooded-out farmland, Bush praised the government response to Gustav as "excellent," but he urged utility companies in neighboring states to send extra manpower to Louisiana if they could spare it.

"One of the key things that needs to happen is that they've got to get electricity up here in Louisiana," Bush said.

The administration's swift reaction was a significant change from its response three years ago to Katrina, a far more devastating storm. Roughly 1,600 people in the Gulf Coast area were killed and the White House was harshly criticized for its botched response.

To residents who lived through Katrina, that failure was still fresh.

"What do I care if Bush is visiting? I'm still trying to get my house back together from Katrina," housekeeper Flora Raymond said. "This time things went better, but we still need help from the last time."

In the days before Gustav arrived, nearly 2 million people were evacuated from the Louisiana coast. Eighteen deaths were attributed to the storm in the United States, several of them occurring during cleanup after it had passed. The storm killed 94 during its march through the Caribbean.

Nearly 80,000 people remained in shelters in Louisiana and surrounding states. An estimated 18,000 people fled from New Orleans on buses and trains arranged by the state and federal governments.

Nagin said Wednesday night that he hoped the process of returning the city's evacuated residents would begin Friday and most would return by the end of the weekend, depending on weather, roads and rail conditions.

Inside the shelters, the days of living on cots with strangers on all sides was taking a toll. At a church in Montgomery, Alabama, an argument in a parking lot between two sisters over the gas money needed to return to New Orleans erupted into a fight that ended with slashed tires, a punch in the face and an arrest.

Five people were also arrested Wednesday in only the second case of attempted looting in New Orleans since the city emptied. Worried about potential looting of vacant properties, Nagin said the city would maintain its dusk-to-dawn curfew indefinitely.

[mklee06]

People are never happy. The response to Gustav was a major improvement over Katrina yet people are complaining about not being able to get back into their homes quick enough. Then after returning to their homes, after being told to wait a little longer, they are upset that they have no power. If residents are so unhappy with the outcome everytime a hurricane hits Louisiana, then might I suggest they just move. This isn''t the last hurricane by far and it won''t be the last time their lives are turned upside down. The government can only do so much to minimize the damages of a hurricane. Be thankful for the positive changes in response to Gustav, try to be a little patient, and if all else fails leave permanently. If you don''t want to move, then please accept that hurricanes are natural disasters that you will have to deal with and as a result, your lives will be profoundly disrupted and you will be greatly inconvenienced.

[xmanborg]

Oh Well thats why they told them not to RUSH HOME because they have no power.

People of New Orleans keep your bags packed there are 4 more hurricanes on the way towards the USA and IKE is packin a punch right now and is a Cat 4

[downsteamjim]

Thank goodness Gustav came in weaker than predicted. More of Louisiana was affected by Gustav than Katrina or Rita. Many of the refugees fled inland to friends, only to find that they lost power too.

[acadian9]

I live in North Central Louisiana. We were hit hard by Gustav...flooding, power outages and lots of downed trees);however, we are not poor mouthing that everything is moving so slowly. Everytime there is a hurricane we open our doors to the evacuees who only poor-mouth and complain about the conditions at the shelters. The shelters do the best that they can with what they have. At first you feel bad for the evacuees but when you see local news reporting that local stores are having to close their doors because they are being robbed blind by evacuees or the evacuees are on tv complaining, your pity turns to anger. Evacuees are complaining about not being able to get back home quickly and saying that "they will not leave next time a hurricane comes"...remember this...You can stay in a shelter with food, water, and a roof over your head or you can stay on your roof and hope that someone comes soon to get you....People need to be thankful what their neighbors hand out during these times instead of belly aching. We cannot provide everyone with a 5 star hotel stay during these times, so accept what you are provided and be glad that you are alive and with your family.

[no2zeebas]

acadian9...Well said...

[ohall31]

Shame on CBS News & the other major media news networks. 800K people are still without power in Louisiana. However, since ''poor'' New Orleans was spared, news about the rest of us is important. Nobody from the major networks has been showing the plight of the folks here in the state, or show these citizens working to help each other out. Louisiana is more than New Orleans. Baton Rouge was hammered by Gustav, but you''d never know it by watching TV

[winslowe1]

Power shortages, sewers backing up, unsafe drinking water, standing pools breeding mosquitoes, warned not to shower (bet that didn''t bother many) ... one would never suspect a storm just passed through.

[sistatee-2009]

We cannot provide everyone with a 5 star hotel stay during these times.
Posted by acadian9 at 04:41 PM : Sep 04, 2008

You can''t? Why not? The helpless masses from N.O. want things! You better drop what you''re doing and get it, NOW!

[barbaraf4]

"As residents returned Wednesday, President George W. Bush returned to the site of one his presidency''s biggest failures to show that the government had turned a corner since its bungled response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005."
~~~~~~~~~~
For what it costs us for Bush to zip around the country in Air Force 1, we could just about rebuild NO.

[sasi1-2009]

It takes time for the power crews to restore power. My town was without power for eight days after the ice storm last winter. None of us complained, and we were living in cold houses & without water. We made it! I''m shocked that even the governor of Louisiana is complaining about the power outages. What do they expect, miracles? If they want miracles, they need to be praying instead of ********!

[rixmix98]

It takes time for the power crews to restore power. My town was without power for eight days after the ice storm last winter. None of us complained, and we were living in cold houses & without water. We made it! I''''m shocked that even the governor of Louisiana is complaining about the power outages. What do they expect, miracles? If they want miracles, they need to be praying instead of ********!

Posted by sasi1 at 09:49 PM : Sep 04, 2008


I''m not sure what planet you live on. However, I live in Oklahoma City and was without power for 8 days last winter (due to the ice storm) and I DID complain. Especially with the logic NOG&E used in restoring power.

[deacon20081]

I once chose to live in a mountain cabin for a year.
No power, no TV, no Hot Water unless you heated it up on the wood stove. It was a fantastic life experience, it was my place and I chose to live there.
Perhaps after going without for awhile the folks complaining in NO will start to appreciate what they do have.

[minnick8-2009]

Perhaps after going without for awhile the folks complaining in NO will start to appreciate what they do have.

Posted by deacon20081

I wouldn''t bet my money on that.

[keithle1]

Nothing like the smell of rotting meat, sour milk, etc, in the hot humid air of New Orleans. Mmmmmmmm!
Breathe it in.

No power means the poor idiots will have unprotected s e x. Women who already have more kids than they can afford will get pregnant & give birth to another mouth they have to struggle to feed.

What else are Beulah & Tre to do? Other than make the beast with two backs. Can''t watch TV or read. Sorry. I forgot they don''t know how to read anything more than what''s on the side of a bucket of KFC. I guess they can always hit the streets & sell some drugs.

Get the power restored NOW! No more babies!

I am from Baton Rouge and it really does bother me that no one in the national media is covering this story. I feel for the people in the Carolinas who are taking the brunt of Hannah right now, but there they only have 100,000 people without power along the coast...we have over 400,000 STILL without power almost a week after Gustav! Its sickening! One thing that really disappoints me is Katie Couric, who was IN LOUISIANA DURING THE STORM, but apparently didn''t see the people on the rooftops like for Katrina with "Help Me!" written there. It''s as if that if a hurricane comes through here and it doesnt live up to or surpass Katrina, that it simply isnt a disaster to the rest of the country. WAKE UP!!! THINGS ARE STILL HORRIBLE DOWN HERE!!! HANNAH AND IKE ARE NOT THE ONLY THINGS GOING ON!!! There is still plenty to do here in Baton Rouge, and we will get it done and get back to normalcy, with or without your help or sympathy.