New Orleans Is a `Ghost Town' as People Flee Hurricane Gustav
By Brian K. Sullivan
Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- New Orleans emptied as tens of thousands of residents fled Hurricane Gustav and authorities, stung by criticism of their handling of Katrina three years ago, undertook the largest evacuation in Louisiana's history.
``Let's prepare for the worst, pray for the best,'' Governor Bobby Jindal said in a televised news conference today. An estimated 1.9 million people were evacuated from the Gulf coast state and only 10,000 remain in New Orleans, he said.
Mayor Ray Nagin said the city of about 300,000 people looked like a ``ghost town'' and ordered a sundown curfew to stop looting.
Gustav's outer bands began lashing the coast at midday local time today and forecasters said the storm may make landfall in Louisiana as early as midday tomorrow. Oil companies evacuated workers from more than 600 rigs and production platforms along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, where fields account for about a quarter of U.S. oil production.
President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency for Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and canceled plans to travel to the Republican National Convention. Presumptive party presidential nominee John McCain canceled most of the opening day's events so the nation could focus on the storm, while Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama called on the public to ``take the evacuation seriously.''
As of 7 p.m. New Orleans time, Gustav was about 175 miles (280 kilometers) south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving northwest at 17 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory. The Category 3 storm has sustained winds of almost 115 miles per hour and ``an extremely dangerous'' storm surge of 10 to 14 feet above normal tide levels is forecast where it crosses the coast.
Evacuation Plans
Gustav marks Louisiana's first test of evacuation plans that were put in place after Katrina struck in August 2005 with winds of almost 130 miles per hour. The storm flooded 80 percent of New Orleans as it overwhelmed levees and floodwalls, killing 1,800 people in Louisiana and Mississippi and causing more than $80 billion in damage.
Thousands of people were forced to take shelter at the New Orleans Superdome and Convention Center. This time, those shelters are closed, and authorities pressed buses and Amtrak trains into service to help evacuate those without transportation.
Highways were clogged with traffic as people fled the approaching storm. Mario and Laura Hernandez of Metairie, just west of New Orleans, bundled their two children into a trailer and headed to Baton Rouge for the second time in three years. ``I knew the time would come,'' said Mario, 25. ``I didn't know it would come so soon.''
Help was pouring in to Louisiana from as far away as Los Angeles, which is sending water rescue teams, said Jindal. Authorities mobilized 7,000 National Guard personnel and are preparing 1,800 more.
Sandbags Stockpiled
The Army Corps of Engineers has stockpiled sandbags to repair any breaches in the New Orleans levees, said spokesman Bill Irwin. The Corps has worked to strengthen the levees, which form a ring of barriers surrounding the below-sea-level city, since Katrina. Work isn't scheduled to be complete until 2011.
The storm surge brought by Gustav may cause flooding in the city's West Bank where levees are about 8 to 10 feet high, Mayor Nagin said.
The storm's eye may pass directly over the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, also known as the LOOP, which handles 12 percent of U.S. oil imports, said Jim Rouiller, a private meteorologist with Planalytics Inc. in Wayne, Pennsylvania.
``I still think this storm will be worse than Katrina,'' Rouiller said. ``Refinery row from the Sabine River pass to Gulfport will sustain major flooding along with wind damage.''
Oil Output
U.S. energy producers have idled 82 percent of natural gas production and 96 percent of oil output in the Gulf, the U.S. government said. Oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc evacuated workers from 86 rigs and 518 production platforms along the coast.
Jindal said most refineries would conduct ``warm shutdowns'' so they can reopen quickly after Gustav passes.
Fields in the Gulf produce 1.3 million barrels a day of oil, about a quarter of U.S. production, and 7.4 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas, 14 percent of the total, according to government data. Katrina closed 95 percent of regional offshore output and, along with Hurricane Rita, idled about 19 percent of U.S. refining capacity.
Gustav, which left at least 81 dead in Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic last week, smashed through Cuba late yesterday, wrecking coastal towns and knocking out communications and power, Agence France-Presse reported.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in New Orleans at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: August 31, 2008 21:29 EDT |
