Hurricane
Dispatches from the storm
By Michael Brunker, msnbc.com correspondent
Water began pouring over the concrete floodwalls along the Industrial Canal east of New Orleans, creating great TV but – so far at least – causing only minor flooding in the mixed residential-industrial Gentilly area. More worrisome was a collision between a derelict ship or barge with pilings of the Florida Avenue Bridge across the Industrial Canal. Gary LaGrange of the Port of NewOrleans told local radio station Q93 that he was en route to examine the bridge, but that initial reports did not indicate that the span had sustained serious damage.
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By Mike Brunker, msnbc.com
Most people go to considerable lengths to avoid hurricanes, but Mark Robinson and his chums will drive like maniacs for days to try to arrange a face-to-eye meeting with one of the dangerous giants.
Robinson, a 35-year-old meteorology student from Ontario, is a “storm chaser,” an adrenaline-fueled avocation popularized in the movie “Twister.” He and his partners in pursuit -- George Kourounis, 37, and Tim Millar, 35 – bombed down the East Coast almost without stopping in hopes of capturing Gustav’s eye on video when the storm comes ashore on Monday.
Robinson stresses his scientific interest in powerful weather, but there’s no disguising the sparkle that dances behind his wire-rim glasses when he describes filming the eye of Hurricane Katrina as he stood chest-deep in storm surge in a parking garage in Gulfport, Miss.
“Katrina was the most intense experience of my life,” he said. “This will probably be a close second.”
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By Mike Brunker, msnbc.com
After being slammed and submerged by Katrina, few residents of New Orleans and its equally at-risk suburbs were willing to gamble with their lives as Gustav marched ashore.
By the time the winds picked up and the first raindrops began to fall Sunday evening, virtually the only humans on the streets were police, National Guard troops, private security guards and TV news crews.
Delia Labarre stands in the intersection of Bourbon and Iberville Streets Sunday afternoon in New Orleans, La. Credit: Jim Seida / msnbc.com
Among those few brave or foolhardy souls who appeared not to belong to any of those groups was Delia Labarre, a New Orleansian who took a break from her pre-curfew walk in the French Quarter to explain why she ignored Mayor Ray Nagin’s mandatory evacuation order and an invitation from relatives in Texas to ride out the storm with them.
“I stayed because of my cat,” she said. “She’s a weird cat. She hisses and stuff.”
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By Contessa Brewer, MSNBC correspondent and anchor
Michelle Bourgeois came to New Orleans from San Fransisco to help evacuate her mother who has Alzheimer's. So during the overnight hours, Michelle and her sister combed through their mom's heirlooms, paintings, crystal and collectibles. They stored some in the sister's home, in a protected closet, in the sub-zero refrigerator, hoping that when the storm subsides, they'll return to find those precious items undamaged.
Then they loaded up their mom, her wheelchair, her nurse, an uncle and began their evacuation to Meridian, Miss. Normally, they say that drive is four hours. Now, they're approaching eight hours, and expect to go another four. They've tried back roads, going west in order to go east, but the traffic, they say, is intense.
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By Jim Seida, msnbc.com senior multimedia producer
I was walking down Bourbon Street this evening, reporting on how New Orleans is empty of residents and tourists. As I looked south, I saw a movie-like bulging clouds, layers of lighter clouds on a dark black background. I heard people say, “Here it comes.”
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By Jim Seida, msnbc.com senior multimedia producer
New Orleans residents gather at the main Amtrak station to get bused out of town before Hurricane Gustave hits. Jim Seida / msnbc.com
New Orleans is closing. The party, at least for now, is over. As Hurricane Gustav approaches, people are heeding the government's warnings and heading out of town, leaving the streets mostly empty but for police cruisers and National Guard trucks, patrolling for stragglers.
Coming into the city from Mobile, Ala., was an eye-opening experience. Even as far as Mobile, 120 miles west of New Orleans, the effects of the storm were already being felt. The local Wal-Mart there was out of gas cans and AA batteries. There were almost no flashlights left and the aisles with boxed juices, cookies, and other foods that are easy to eat while sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the interstate were well picked over.
When you're running from (or toward) a hurricane, everybody needs the same things...water, gas, food.
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By Janet Shamlian, NBC News correspondent
After veering dangerously close to empty, I finally found gas near the Louisiana border. $3.95 a gallon seemed high until I went to pay the owner and saw what he was charging for water.. $10.99 a case! Talk about a mini-mart robbery!
We're now at a command center along Interstate 10, where the water is free and the license plates on the ambulances are from as far away as Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Colorado. Hundreds of buses are stacked here like dominoes, awaiting deployment to New Orleans and the unknown.
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| Janet Shamlian / NBC News |
By Janet Shamlian, NBC News correspondent
The lines were long outside the Port Arthur Civic Center as residents waited for a ride out of town. They were carrying kids and coolers, backpacks and boom boxes -- the necessities for a few days in a strange place. For some that meant their pets. Evacuating and housing dogs and cats was an issue in the days ahead of and after Hurricane Katrina. Man's best friend or favorite feline was frequently turned away from both transportation and temporary housing. In many cases, loving owners had to leave their pets behind at a time when they needed them most. Some where never reunited.
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photos by Contessa Brewer, MSNBC correspondent and anchor
In the Garden District of New Orleans, a misspelled "Thank You" sign on a boarded up restaurant, meant for the National Guard.
Below is a photo of the National Guard from New Iberia. They're in New Orleans to establish a security presence for the local street evacuations and to help move the local traffic.
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