New Orleans Spared by Faltering Storm

As it turned out, New Orleans dodged the full brunt of Hurricane Gustav, which had substantially weakened by the time it reached the Louisiana shoreline on Monday, but Hurricane Hanna still looms as a potential threat to the nation’s East Coast.

The New York Times:

Forecasters had worried that Hurricane Gustav, which slammed into Cocodrie, would arrive as a Category 4 storm with far more powerful winds.

Once the storm turned out to be less devastating than had been forecast, some officials fretted that they would face criticism for calling for a major evacuation. But with memories of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 still fresh, they said they had no regrets.

“There will be some criticism, potentially,” said Dick Gremillion, the director of emergency operations in Calcasieu Parish, La. “But particularly after Katrina, I don’t think anyone expects us not to do everything that we can to make sure no one is hurt.”

“We are not taking any chances in terms of people’s lives,” Mr. Gremillion added.

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Aftermath: Hurricane Gustav caused chaos in Jamaica and Cuba late last week and into the weekend but was downgraded to a tropical storm late Monday after reaching Louisiana’s shoreline. In this photo, a car drives along Canal Street in downtown New Orleans Monday night.