Levees hold, New Orleans waits

UPDATE

Hundreds of miles of vulnerable levees surrounding New Orleans on Monday withstood the relentless pounding of a storm surge that accompanied Hurricane Gustav, although officials remained cautious for most of the day as giant waves crashed over walls along the lower 9th Ward and Industrial Canal.

Federal and local officials expressed little confidence of the levees, some under reconstruction from Hurricane Katrina, could withstand the force of a Category Three winds or rain, and commanded a mandatory evacuation of the region on Sunday that they said was adhered to by nearly 95 percent.

Massive flooding was reported throughout the coastal region as well as renegade tornadoes after the storm made landfall as a Category Three hurricane just after 11 a.m.

But as the storm slowly passed over the region, officials acknowledged they were still not out of danger.

Act two is about to unfold, said Harvey E. Johnson, deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The first priority on Tuesday will be search and rescue efforts conducted by the Coast Guard, ensure residents seeking cover from the storms in shelters throughout the state were still safe, and then bring residents home later this week after streets are cleared and electrical power is restored.

Maj. Gen. Don Riley, deputy commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, said city pumps were able to contain the storm water along New Orleans’ levees, although other parishes southwest of New Orleans where Gustav came ashore most likely had flooded.

Nearly two million people evacuated the Gulf Coast, including thousands of residents who were still inhabiting travel trailers from Hurricane Katrina from three years ago. Trailer residents were ordered to evacuate by state and local officials who warned the structures could become projectiles in the tropical force winds.

The levee system is the “weakest part of the hurricane protection system,” Mayor Ray Nagin told CNN. “Americans, keep praying for us.”

The concerns about Gustav were apparent across the country. About 2 million people had evacuated the Louisiana coast, along with tens of thousands of residents in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. Republicans canceled nearly all of their planned events Monday at their nominating convention in Minneapolis. And President Bush moved to Texas to personally oversee the response and recovery efforts.

His blue dress shirt sleeves rolled up, Mr. Bush coordinated the relief plans from Texas and declared the early were “a lot better” than Katrina’s response three years ago. He credited clear communication between the federal government and the local states and a “spirit of sharing assets.”

“I feel good about this event,” the president said.

Mr. Bush also thanked the tens of thousands of citizens who heeded the mandatory evacuation orders. “It’s hard for a citizen to pull up stakes,” he acknowledged.

The storm continued to move northwest at about 16 mph and is expected to dump up to a foot of rain and cause major storm surges and spin-off tornadoes.

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