By Jacqueline L. Salmon and Dana Hedgpeth
The Washington Post
NEW ORLEANS — Even though Hurricane Gustav did not wreak the destruction expected when it struck the Gulf Coast on Monday, officials said Tuesday that they were not ready to allow many of the 1.9 million Louisiana residents who had evacuated to return to their homes.
While the worst was avoided — there were no major levee breaks of the sort that inundated New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal cautioned that the state faces major hurdles before life returns to normal.
Massive power outages were among the most immediate problems, with some towns without electricity. More than 130 transmission lines and dozens of substations were knocked out of service, meaning Gustav was surpassed only by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 in the destruction caused to the region's electric grid.
About 1.4 million customers were without power in Louisiana, and vast portions of the New Orleans and Baton Rouge metropolitan areas have been knocked off the national electricity grid, said Kevin Kolevar, assistant secretary of energy for electricity delivery and energy reliability.
Of immediate concern were about a dozen hospitals that had limited electric service. State officials were forced to transport scores of patients for fear they couldn't survive long without air conditioning.
The state's secretary of Health and Hospitals, Alan Levine, said 139 in serious condition had been evacuated as of Tuesday night.
State and federal officials said they were moving fuel to hospitals and other key facilities to ensure that they can continue to run generators.
To clear debris, distribute supplies and secure communities isolated by the storm, thousands of National Guard troops, federal law-enforcement officers and other emergency workers were being deployed.
Ten deaths were attributed to Gustav, six occurring during the evacuation.
Meanwhile, Gustav continued to spawn bad weather. The National Weather Service reported that a tornado touched down in New Orleans's West Bank neighborhood Tuesday night, and there were reports of flooding along several rivers in residential neighborhoods on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain, roughly 20 miles north of New Orleans.
There had been concerns that the storm would disrupt energy supplies from the Gulf of Mexico, which accounts for 25 percent of U.S. oil and 12 percent of natural gas production.
But Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said initial flights showed no visible damage to 3,842 oil- and gas-production platforms along the coast, and he expected quick restoration of production.
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In Washington, officials said President Bush will visit Louisiana today.
Jindal said the state is deferring to local authorities to determine when different areas are safe enough for residents to go back. Hundreds of buses were waiting to bring people home, and the state was working with Amtrak and airlines to coordinate the return once local leaders approve it.
Parishes that sustained little damage said residents could begin returning today. Those with more significant destruction said residents will need to wait as late as Friday.
To get residents back to New Orleans, Democratic Mayor Ray Nagin announced a plan in which employees of major corporations and retailers are expected to return to the city today, with the rest of the city's residents allowed back starting possibly Thursday.
Tuesday, authorities established checkpoints on major roads leading into the city to turn away anyone who tried to come back prematurely.
But despite warnings from officials, a trickle of evacuees began returning to other areas.
In Cocodrie, a fishing community on the Gulf Coast where Gustav made landfall, residents were breathing a huge sigh of relief.
"Normally you couldn't drive down this road the day after a hurricane," said Donna Domangue, who has lived on the bayou her whole life. "It's full of water."
But Tuesday, she and a few relatives drove their small pickup along the bayou that empties into the Gulf of Mexico to check her restaurant and other family businesses and houses.
In New Orleans, things began to return to some semblance of normalcy. Many of the estimated 10,000 residents who rode out the storm emerged from their homes. Under partly sunny skies, they walked dogs, cruised the empty streets on bikes and sought out restaurants, which were reopening.
from; http://seattletimes.nwsource.com
The Washington Post
NEW ORLEANS — Even though Hurricane Gustav did not wreak the destruction expected when it struck the Gulf Coast on Monday, officials said Tuesday that they were not ready to allow many of the 1.9 million Louisiana residents who had evacuated to return to their homes.
While the worst was avoided — there were no major levee breaks of the sort that inundated New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal cautioned that the state faces major hurdles before life returns to normal.
Massive power outages were among the most immediate problems, with some towns without electricity. More than 130 transmission lines and dozens of substations were knocked out of service, meaning Gustav was surpassed only by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 in the destruction caused to the region's electric grid.
About 1.4 million customers were without power in Louisiana, and vast portions of the New Orleans and Baton Rouge metropolitan areas have been knocked off the national electricity grid, said Kevin Kolevar, assistant secretary of energy for electricity delivery and energy reliability.
Of immediate concern were about a dozen hospitals that had limited electric service. State officials were forced to transport scores of patients for fear they couldn't survive long without air conditioning.
The state's secretary of Health and Hospitals, Alan Levine, said 139 in serious condition had been evacuated as of Tuesday night.
State and federal officials said they were moving fuel to hospitals and other key facilities to ensure that they can continue to run generators.
To clear debris, distribute supplies and secure communities isolated by the storm, thousands of National Guard troops, federal law-enforcement officers and other emergency workers were being deployed.
Ten deaths were attributed to Gustav, six occurring during the evacuation.
Meanwhile, Gustav continued to spawn bad weather. The National Weather Service reported that a tornado touched down in New Orleans's West Bank neighborhood Tuesday night, and there were reports of flooding along several rivers in residential neighborhoods on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain, roughly 20 miles north of New Orleans.
There had been concerns that the storm would disrupt energy supplies from the Gulf of Mexico, which accounts for 25 percent of U.S. oil and 12 percent of natural gas production.
But Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said initial flights showed no visible damage to 3,842 oil- and gas-production platforms along the coast, and he expected quick restoration of production.
advertising
In Washington, officials said President Bush will visit Louisiana today.
Jindal said the state is deferring to local authorities to determine when different areas are safe enough for residents to go back. Hundreds of buses were waiting to bring people home, and the state was working with Amtrak and airlines to coordinate the return once local leaders approve it.
Parishes that sustained little damage said residents could begin returning today. Those with more significant destruction said residents will need to wait as late as Friday.
To get residents back to New Orleans, Democratic Mayor Ray Nagin announced a plan in which employees of major corporations and retailers are expected to return to the city today, with the rest of the city's residents allowed back starting possibly Thursday.
Tuesday, authorities established checkpoints on major roads leading into the city to turn away anyone who tried to come back prematurely.
But despite warnings from officials, a trickle of evacuees began returning to other areas.
In Cocodrie, a fishing community on the Gulf Coast where Gustav made landfall, residents were breathing a huge sigh of relief.
"Normally you couldn't drive down this road the day after a hurricane," said Donna Domangue, who has lived on the bayou her whole life. "It's full of water."
But Tuesday, she and a few relatives drove their small pickup along the bayou that empties into the Gulf of Mexico to check her restaurant and other family businesses and houses.
In New Orleans, things began to return to some semblance of normalcy. Many of the estimated 10,000 residents who rode out the storm emerged from their homes. Under partly sunny skies, they walked dogs, cruised the empty streets on bikes and sought out restaurants, which were reopening.
from; http://seattletimes.nwsource.com
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