Gustav: Gone, But Not Forgotten
Gulf Coast repairs still on-going after Hurricane Gustav as Ike heads to the mainland.
By Richard Whittaker, 5:02PM, Mon. Sep. 8, 2008
Hurricane Ike is predicted to make landfall on the Gulf Coast later this week, and even though it looks like it's heading to Texas, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has already declared a state of emergency.
But it's important to remember that, just because it didn't hit New Orleans as bady as anyone feared, it doesn't mean the damage from Hurricane Gustav is all cleared up. Louisiana electricity firm Entergy reports that, as of 11am this morning, 206,080 customers across the state still had no power, and some face outages until October. The Associated Press reports that demand for food and water was much higher than anticipated and Jindal has criticized (surprise, surprise) FEMA for not getting essential trucks into the region. The Red Cross is still running shelters and handing out ice in areas of New Orleans.
Along the coast in Houma, which took the worst of the battering from Gustav, residents are still under an 8pm-6am curfew. It also looks the ubiquitous blue tarps will be back again.
Got something to say? The Chronicle welcomes opinion pieces on any topic from the community. Submit yours now at austinchronicle.com/opinion.
A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.
Richard Whittaker, Sept. 1, 2008
Kate X Messer, Aug. 31, 2008
Kate X Messer, July 27, 2012
Hurricane Gustav, New Orleans, Red Cross, Hurricane Ike, FEMA, Houma