Hundreds of thousands lose power as Gustav pounds coast

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Hurricane Gustav swirled violently ashore Monday, turning lights out across the Gulf Coast and sending water over the tops of New Orleans' levees, officials said.

Water from the Industrial Canal floods a road in New Orleans after Hurricane Gustav made landfall Monday.

The storm's eastern bands, which generally pack the most powerful winds, also hammered Mississippi as Gustav moved to the west of New Orleans. Officials in Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach and Biloxi reported that Gustav was flooding U.S. Highway 90, making it impassable in parts.
In Pass Christian, Gustav blew vinyl siding off homes and damaged the recently repaired small-boat harbor. At least four boats docked there were swept onto the harbor access road, police Chief John Dubuisson said.
In Biloxi, iReporter Kevin Wise, who lives two blocks from the beach, said Gustav had pushed the Gulf waters into a highway about 100 yards from the normal shoreline.
"On the beach, it was blowing hard enough that you had to squat down to take a picture, it could pretty much throw you around," he told CNN. Wise said he and his wife ignored mandatory evacuation orders for his area.
At noon CT, the storm's eye was about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Morgan City, Louisiana, and 65 miles west-southwest of New Orleans, forecasters said. The Category 2 storm had winds of about 105 mph (169 kph), according to the National Weather Service.
Winds were sending whitecaps over levees in New Orleans, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported no major problems.
There were reports of water going over the Industrial Canal levee near a railroad bridge, said Chris Macaluso, a spokesman for the Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration. The Port of New Orleans will raise the bridge to ease pressure on the system, he said.
The Industrial Canal levee failed during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, devastating the Lower Ninth Ward and neighboring St. Bernard Parish.


response:
Please do not let these levees break! The residents of Louisiana took a huge toll from Katrina and a big hit from Gustav could devistate the southern part of LA. I was watching CNN last night and this morning and the hurricane went from a category 3 hurricane to a category 2 which is lower windspeed which could significantly reduce the amount of damage done to the hurricane area. The levees in the industrial canal look to be holding at the current time and it seems the worst winds are being felt currently with the levees still holding. Water going over the levees as opposed to through the levees are completely different. Water going over the tops still means the levees are holding.

A huge effect all of the United States could feel are rising gas prices because of Gustav. It was interesting to see the number of oil platforms that Gustav was in route of going over. The amount of barrels of oil coming from these platforms is huge to all of the United States. So any delays in producing oil could drastically rise gas prices. I guess we will all see as a nation the effect of these oil platforms being involved in Gustavs path.

David Caldwell