Gustav’s Wallop

As Hurricane Gustav struck central Louisiana on Monday, nervous officials gathered at the Claiborne Avenue Bridge in the eastern section of New Orleans. Directly below was the Industrial Canal, one of the weak points in the city's storm defenses since it has yet to be fully retrofitted. As tropical-storm-force winds battered onlookers, water lapped dangerously near the top of the floodwalls, sometimes spilling over. In bordering neighborhoods like Gentilly and the Upper Ninth Ward, streets were already beginning to flood.

But Gary LaGrange, CEO of the Port of New Orleans, felt somewhat reassured by what he observed. "You can see there is still a foot and a half of floodwall left," he shouted above the din of the tempest. "Right now, we are only seeing local flooding, thankfully." Later, as the storm began to wane, the water level in the canal subsided as well.

Though Gustav remains a powerful storm, it has so far proved less destructive than many had feared. The hurricane, whose center made landfall at Cocodrie, La., at about 10:30 a.m. ET, had weakened to a Category 2 storm, with winds of 110 miles per hour, by the time it struck. Later in the day, it was downgraded again to Category 1 status, with winds not exceeding 95mph.

Nevertheless, Gustav's impact has been widespread. It has left more than 500,000 people statewide without power and has temporarily displaced nearly 2 million residents. It has provoked flooding outside New Orleans, in cities like Mandeville, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. And it has damaged levee systems, like one in Plaquemines Parish; the parish president urged residents to leave late Monday when water spilled over two levees there. All told, Gustav could result in insured losses of $6 billion to $10 billion, according to EQECAT, a company that estimates insurance-industry losses.

Perhaps the worst destruction is in Louisiana's coastal region near Cocodrie. A vulnerable string of towns running along Highway 90 from Houma to New Iberia, this is the heart of Cajun Country. As Gustav barreled through, it tossed trees, downed power lines and ripped off roofs. Officials were expecting a tidal surge of as much as eight feet. This is an area where protective marshlands have been depleted over the years. Fortunately, most residents appear to have heeded warnings to evacuate.

From there, Gustav churned toward Lafayette, La., on Monday afternoon. But city officials were prepared. They'd already implemented a "contraflow" plan, which redirects highway lanes to facilitate outbound traffic, and helped evacuate those without vehicles. "We didn't have to tell them twice," says Mike Mouton, the Parish's Emergency Operations and Security Coordinator. "Boom, and they got out … I didn't have any heartburn or heart attacks worrying about people."