Hurricane Gustav came ashore just west of New Orleans on Monday, lashing Louisiana's fishing and oil industries with 177 kilometer per hour (kph) winds and battering the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 with surging floodwaters that threatened its rebuilt levees. The storm was weaker than had been feared, but wind-driven water splashed over the top of the Industrial Canal's floodwall. City officials and the Army Corps of Engineers said they expected that the levees—still only partially rebuilt after Katrina—would hold. The canal broke during Katrina, submerging 80 percent of New Orleans. “We are seeing some overtopping waves,” said Colonel Jeff Bedey, commander of the Corps hurricane-protection office. “We are cautiously optimistic and confident that we won't see catastrophic wall failure.” In the Upper 9th Ward neighborhood, which was completely flooded in 2005, about half the streets closest to the canal were flooded with ankle- to knee-deep water. Of more concern to authorities were two small boats that broke loose from their moorings in the canal and were resting against the Florida Street wharf. There were no immediate reports of damage to the canal. Water also rose in the Fifth District, west of the canal, and National Guard troops prepared to evacuate residents who stayed behind. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said the city will not know until late afternoon if the vulnerable West Bank would stay dry. Concerns about the level of flood protection in an area where improvements to the levees are years from completion was a key reason Nagin insisted that residents evacuate the city. The Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Gustav hit Monday morning near Cocodrie, a low-lying community 116 kilometers southwest of New Orleans, as a Category 2 storm. Forecasters had feared Gustav would arrive as a devastating Category 4 hurricane. The extent of damage along coastal Louisiana was not immediately clear. State officials said they had still not reached anyone at Port Fourchon, a hub for the energy industry where huge amounts of oil and natural gas are piped inland to refineries. The eye of Gustav passed about 30 kilometers from the port, and there are fears the damage there could be extensive. Only one storm-related death—involving a woman in a car accident—was reported in Louisiana.
