When Hurricane Gustav hit New Orleans, did it hit the levees?
Hurricane Gustav, with winds topping 110 miles per hour, slammed into southern Louisiana Monday morning but with far less fury than feared. The eye of the storm made landfall more than 70 miles west of flood-prone New Orleans. Gustav, downgraded to a Category 1 by Monday afternoon, was still dumping large amount of rain as it continued its course through Louisiana and into eastern Texas and northern Oklahoma, leaving more than 1 million customers without power. As the brunt of the hurricane side-stepped New Orleans, city officials were cautiously optimistic that the city’s levees would hold back storm surges as the bulging Mississippi River strained several levees. But waves of water could be seen topping New Orleans’ Industrial Canal, and officials in Plaquemines Parish, southwest of the city, were shoring up levees with sandbags. During Hurricane Katrina, several breaches of the industrial canal led to substantial flooding in the city’s central neighborhoods, as well as the Lower Nin
Hurricane Gustav hits land Hurricane Gustav has hit landfall in the US state of Louisiana, with torrential rain and strong winds of up to 177 kph lashing the region, the US national hurricane centre has said. But Gustav weakened on Monday to a Category Two hurricane as it hit the US Gulf Coast, where it has forced almost two million people to flee. The hurricane hit the shore near Cocodrie, Louisiana, about 115 km southwest of New Orleans, sparing the city a potentially lethal direct hit. The latest hurricane comes three years after New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. George Bush, the US president, described the hurricane on Monday at a news conference as a “serious event” but said “I feel good [that] the co-ordination on this storm is a lot better than during Katrina.” Al Jazeera’s Cath Turner in New Orleans said that so far the city’s levees, which had failed during Katrina, appeared to be holding. So far there have been reports of only minor flooding and damage. Caribbe
Hurricane Gustav, with winds topping 110 miles per hour, slammed into southern Louisiana Monday morning but with far less fury than feared. The eye of the storm made landfall more than 70 miles west of flood-prone New Orleans. Gustav, downgraded to a Category 1 by Monday afternoon, was still dumping large amount of rain as it continued its course through Louisiana and into eastern Texas and northern Oklahoma, leaving more than 1 million customers without power. As the brunt of the hurricane side-stepped New Orleans, city officials were cautiously optimistic that the city’s levees would hold back storm surges as the bulging Mississippi River strained several levees. But waves of water could be seen topping New Orleans’ Industrial Canal, and officials in Plaquemines Parish, southwest of the city, were shoring up levees with sandbags. During Hurricane Katrina, several breaches of the industrial canal led to substantial flooding in the city’s central neighborhoods, as well as the Lower Nin
Hurricane Gustav hits land Hurricane Gustav has hit landfall in the US state of Louisiana, with torrential rain and strong winds of up to 177 kph lashing the region, the US national hurricane centre has said. But Gustav weakened on Monday to a Category Two hurricane as it hit the US Gulf Coast, where it has forced almost two million people to flee. The hurricane hit the shore near Cocodrie, Louisiana, about 115 km southwest of New Orleans, sparing the city a potentially lethal direct hit. The latest hurricane comes three years after New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. George Bush, the US president, described the hurricane on Monday at a news conference as a “serious event” but said “I feel good [that] the co-ordination on this storm is a lot better than during Katrina.” Al Jazeera’s Cath Turner in New Orleans said that so far the city’s levees, which had failed during Katrina, appeared to be holding. So far there have been reports of only minor flooding and damage. Caribbe
