And now there is Gustav

We went… we saw… we wrote… I was in New Orleans in June for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ National Convention. Things were still bad, but turning around. People were coming back. Tourism had started to increase. There was hope.

And now there is Gustav.
















I heard about it on the news. I couldn’t believe the projected path. My God! It is headed right for New Orleans!

Not again! They can’t go through that again! They have suffered enough. Not again…

But there is no denying the truth. I flipped through the channels on TV, looking for the weather channel and the latest reports. I came to CNN and there was Ray Nagin being interviewed at the National Democratic Convention.

Obama had just been nominated. The mayor commented and then the interview turned to the crisis in New Orleans.

It was three years ago, three years almost to the day, that Katrina devastated the city. If Gustav does hit, what is the plan? How will things be different?

The mayor spoke of lessons learned from Katrina. People are being warned to make plans to leave. A state of emergency has been declared by the Governor already. The oil rigs in the Gulf are being evacuated.

And what about those who can’t afford to evacuate? A plan has been set up for public transportation to shelters out of the area. There will be no mass shelters of last resort in New Orleans, no Superdome, and no Convention Center.

A lesson learned from Katrina -- GET OUT!

People are asked to sign up if they need emergency transportation; police will go through neighborhoods with bullhorns. They have prepared a supply of cages for people to evacuate their pets. “We learned that people will not leave because of their pets,” said the mayor.

It is a massive undertaking. Will it work? There are only half as many people now as before and the lowest areas are sparsely populated.

What about the levees? Will they hold? They have been rebuilt. It was the failure of the levee system before that caused the most problems -- the flooding.

The mayor believes they will hold. There will be a mandatory evacuation for a category 3 storm or if the storm surge is large. When we were there, the mayor said a storm surge with a category 3 hurricane would top the levees, but levees should not catastrophically fail.

The mayor is cautiously optimistic.

There is something about that man that instills belief. He is projecting confidence as a leader should. In spite of all the criticism, in spite of everything done wrong before, nobody knows better than he does how to avoid the same mistakes.

“This is a test,” Nagin says, “a test of the levee system.” It is a test of Nagin’s courage and leadership ability as well, a second chance, a change to do everything right that was done wrong before.

But maybe the hurricane will take another path… or maybe it will dissipate and not reach full strength. Maybe this is all for naught.

Hotel rooms are said to be booked already all the way to Memphis. I pray that New Orleans will be spared. I learned to love the city and the beautiful people when I was there. New Orleans affects you that way.

The people have suffered enough. We pray for you, New Orleans. Not again, God. Please, not again…