Gustav threatens coast

As Gustav swells to Category 3 and is projected to hit anywhere between Texas and Florida, NSNC members recall images of the city from our conference only two months past.

Louisiana and Mississippi have already called for evacuation of residents along the Katrina-scarred coast. There is a phased order to evacuation -- those in coastal communities or outside protection of levees are first. Hundreds may fall through the cracks of an evacuation plan, and they will be left in the city.

Eight-five unclaimed victims of Katrina were laid to final rest Friday as a jazz trumpet played. Residents and city officials rang bells at the moment the levee was breached three years ago, on the anniversary of the storm.

We remember our own jazz parade and the city’s friendly people. What about our colleagues who live there and those journalists we met at the convention who covered the Katrina disaster? What about the animals at the aquarium? What about those we met who returned to the city to rebuild? What about St. Bernard and the Lower Ninth Ward?

We remember the theme of our conference, “New Orleans, you are not forgotten.” The impersonal face of disaster has become personal. We are glued to the news – not wanting to see, but unable to stop looking.

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…

Katrina tour of New Orleans

The French Quarter covers about 13 blocks and was on some of the higher ground, therefore, it was not flooded like the lower areas of the city. Canal Street divides the city into two sections, the American side, or uptown, and the Creole side, downtown. The streets of the French Quarter are from 1719 and very narrow.

During Katrina, the police took over Harrah’s Casino as an emergency headquarters as it was well-built. Nearly every building in New Orleans sustained damage from the storm. At Jackson Square, Bush promised that New Orleans will never be forgotten. The people of the city say he must have a short memory.

The French Market is the oldest open air market in America. Restaurants in the Quarter serve jazz and traditional foods of New Orleans, such as, Po’ Boy sandwiches, muffelettas (round sandwich), beignets (donuts) and Café Latté.

The architecture is French and Spanish; window shutters are French and wrought iron balconies are Spanish influence. The area was occupied by the Creoles, which are a blended people of many nationalities.

Flood walls protect the city, which is actually below sea level, but during Katrina there was a catastrophic failure of the flood protection system.

The Ninth Ward was one of the most devastated areas of the city and still remains mostly unrepaired and unoccupied. It is a working class community on the other side of the canal. The water came in from the lake, not from the river. Many houses stand empty, still bearing the marks of searches by the National Guard units. Some are marked for demolition by red X’s, others have been demolished and only a concrete pad remains to show that a house was there.

St. Bernard parish is a middle-class community of fishermen where many work in the fishing industry. The water filled up the area in a matter of 20 minutes, leaving people trapped and unable to escape. One high school served as a shelter to the sick and those who could not leave the city. The water flooded the first story and 1700 people survived in 8 feet of water for almost a week with little food and water.

The hurricane happened on August 29th and it was September 11th before help arrived. Over 2000 lives were lost in the New Orleans area.