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.

“An extremely dangerous storm surge of 10 to 14 feet above normal tidal levels is expected near and to the east of where the center of Gustav crosses the coast,” said the National Hurricane Center.

Sustained winds of 67 mph, with gusts up to 86, were reported at the National Ocean Service at Grand Isle Louisiana, on the southernmost tip of the coast below New Orleans.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal warned that tidal surges are not over and that predictions continue to show anywhere from four to a dozen feet surge of water is expected.

“The worst of the flooding could be on the backside of the storm later this afternoon,” Mr. Jindal said during a press conference.

Gustav is now moving at a speed of 15 miles per hour. Winds and rain are not expected to peak until 5 p.m.

Mr. Jindal said the storm is expected to ease before midnight Monday, but that it could be another twelve hours before the water recedes and that flooding is still possible.

Although the storm was expected to hit the bayou coast west of New Orleans, Harvey E. Johnson, deputy director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said that flood waters would likely still overwhelm some levees in the city hit so hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The low-lying bayou country in southwest Louisiana could be hardest hit, with coastal fishing cities such as Houma and Morgan City now expected to bear the brunt of the storm.

The Louisiana coastline has significantly eroded over the last several decades, and cities such as Houma, with a population of about 33,000, has a levee system that is 10 feet tall, which could be overwhelmed by surging flood waters.

“Houma is just sitting there naked,” Roy Dokka, a Louisiana State University geologist, told the Associated Press. “People do not realize how bad it could be.”

Most of the levees surrounding 300 miles of New Orleans are holding steady but water is spilling over the levee walls in the lower 9th Ward and the Industrial Canal but may be part of a control release to take pressure off of the system.

Federal officials are optimistic that the walls will hold up.

“We are seeing some overtopping waves,” said Col. Jeff Bedey, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers’ hurricane protection office. “We are cautiously optimistic and confident that we won’t see catastrophic wall failure.”

However, Army Corps officials won’t be able to survey the area by helicopter until after the storm passes tonight.

Forecasters are predicting devastating floods throughout the Northern Gulf Coast region, with tornadoes threatening Mississippi, Louisiana and spilling into the Florida panhandle. Meeting with President Bush just before 1 p.m. Monday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said “Your home state did good.”

“This may not be over yet,” Mr. Perry said referring to expected massive flooding in East Texas, “but we will be ready for it.”

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour told his residents he will alert them when the storm has cleared and the roads are safe to drive home. “The roads are still flooded, you may run off the road and kill yourselves in a washed out road,” Mr. Barbour said.

In New Orleans, the French Quarter reportedly lost electricity early but in the Garden District, Charles Abbyad hunkered down at the Chimes Bed and Breakfast on Constantinople Street and watched the local news as Gustav moved in. So far they had not lost power and his inn was full of reporters, not tourists. “It”s not the wind. It’s the water,” Mr. Abbyad said of the continued threat to New Orleans throughout Monday.

“There are two barges and a boat loose in the industrial canal. If those hit the wall, we’ll have big problems.”

Mr. Abbayad, the maitre’d at the famed Arnaud’s restaurant in the French Quarter, helps his wife Jill run the five-bedroom inn. He has lived in the city for nearly 30 years and through many storms, but fears big losses from flood damage from Gustav just three years after Katrina could well sink the city.

The inn has survived over the past few years by hosting more business travelers and fewer couples looking for a romantic escape. A second blow to tourism in New Orleans might damage the city even further.

“This is our livelihood,” he said, noting his concern about the rising surge Monday afternoon. “We don’t know what is happening.”

The Republican Party, meanwhile, woke up to the first day of its national convention, which has been all but suspended except for essential activities out of deference to the plight of Gulf Coast residents.

• Reporter Jon Ward contributed to this article.