Gustav is now a Tropical Storm near or over the Texas border with northern Louisiana as I write this Tuesday evening from the St. Tammany Parish city of Mandeville. There is still no electricity in many of the surrounding parishes, although New Orleans itself has some patches where electricity is online. Crews continue to work to clear debris from roadways and restore more power to customers.
Right now, a severe thunderstorm is moving through Southeast Orleans Parish and moving Northwest through Jefferson Parish, on it’s way to Mandeville. There have been reports of 1 to 3 tornadoes that touched down and damage to the LSU campus. The danger has changed from the hurricane itself to its aftermath.
Anyone still in these areas should remain indoors as much as possible and off of the road. Many trees are down in the St. Tammany Parish area, blocking roads. Power lines, which we are told to treat as if they are still live (as they may well be) lie across streets and yards. This adds another danger for vehicles and people.
Too many people tried to return to the New Orleans area prematurely. They were stopped before getting to the Twin Spans and Causeway Blvds. People are not being permitted to enter New Orleans or it’s surrounding parishes yet so I do not advise anyone to try to return home. I do know that St. Tammany Parish is expected to allow residents to return tomorrow at around 6 am. This is good news because St. Tammany itself needs to be open before people will be allowed to return to Orleans Parish, Jefferson Parish, etc, as people have to drive through here to get there from the North Shore.
I heard reports that many cars were bottlenecked around the Twin Spans and the Causeway because people came early thinking they would be able to get through. They cannot. Hotels and motels are still booked up around this area and there is no where to stay if people decide to come and wait to be let back in. A news station reported that people who tried to come back were being told to return to as far as Hattiesburg, Miss. to find lodging again.
There’s no word yet on when New Orleans will allow people to return, but it could be as early as Wednesday morning, or possibly Thursday. No one should try to travel here until the word is out that people can. It’s just not safe.
As far as levees go, I did hear more were topping over along the Coastal Louisiana and Coastal Mississippi areas and there is a lot of flooding. Lake Ponchatrain itself has stabilized but is still being watched carefully as the storm surge continues pushing water toward the lake.
As for right now, people are advised to remain away from the New Orleans area until told by authorities it’s OK to return; no one is being allowed in, except for emergency workers, so they can clear roads and restore power without having to divert their attention to potential looters, as was the case during the aftermath of Katrina.
It’s a game of wait and see. We are riding out these tornadoes and thunderstorms moving through the area right now. Gustav may have passed through, but we are not quite yet out of the woods as far as a safe return to the city goes.
