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New Orleans takes cover
By TERRY TOMALIN, BRYAN GILMER and CRAIG PITTMAN © St. Petersburg Times, published September 28, 1998 Hurricane Georges waded into the mouth of the Mississippi River late Sunday, backing up its mighty flow and sending water lapping over the levees that make life possible in low-lying New Orleans. With the storm threatening to stall over southern Louisiana and drop more than 2 feet of rain on an already saturated area, the city famed for its carefree ways had become the Big Uneasy. "We know it's out there, we know it's headed our way. . . . We're just waiting for the water to come," Louisiana State Police Lt. Col. Ronnie Jones said. He said waiting for the hurricane was like "looking down the barrel of a shotgun." The National Weather Service predicted the eye of the storm would make landfall near the Louisiana-Mississippi border around 2 a.m. today, bringing with it winds of at least 110 mph and a storm surge of 10 to 15 feet above normal. But by Sunday afternoon the leading edge of Georges already was battering gulf beaches across four states. Waves washed over all four lanes of U.S. 90 in Mississippi. Along the Alabama coast 25-foot waves clipped off fishing piers. On Pensacola Beach surging water crashed over picnic pavilions and gusting winds flattened the dunes that had been restored after the Panhandle's last major hurricane, Opal, wiped them out in October 1995. Hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents fled before Georges could catch them. Bumper-to-bumper traffic crowded Interstate 10 leaving New Orleans into the early hours Sunday. More than 200 miles north in Birmingham, Ala., local motels were filled. All 11 Mississippi casinos closed, but emergency officials were gambling that the barges they sit on in the Gulf of Mexico could remain moored during the expected 30 hours of hurricane-force winds. Georges promised to test a longtime local joke: "Mississippi is only one good hurricane away from land-based casino gambling." One casino, a barge made up to look like a pirate ship, was beginning to break free from its anchor points about 9 p.m., according to Frankie Duggan, the director of civil defense for Biloxi. "It's had four or five of its moorings break loose," he said. "It seems to be staying in place right now, but if we have any kind of a storm surge, it could get washed ashore." At the cavernous Louisiana Superdome, an estimated 10,000 evacuees jammed its corridors for the first time in its 23-year history. Because the field and lower decks could flood, the evacuees were herded into the upper decks. On the floor of one corridor, Tarel Sandolph, 23, and Haven Washington, 23, did their best to comfort their crying 4-month-old daughter, Haja. "We've got food, water, milk and plenty of diapers," Washington said. "I hope the Pampers last and Georges doesn't." The normally raucous French Quarter was eerily quiet. Stranded tourists found themselves with little to do. Carla Rivers, 25, of Los Angeles strolled along Bourbon Street swigging a beer, not her first. "We been at it all night," she said. "If we die, at least we'll die happy. Besides, if you're drunk enough, you aren't scared." At the Old Absinthe Bar, owner Tony Moran named a rum drink after Georges and sold 300 on Saturday night. Late Sunday morning he sat alone at the bar, drinking Martell Cordon Bleu brandy and waiting for the New Orleans Saints to play Indianapolis on TV. The 65-year-old Moran figured he could smoke a few Kents, sip his brandy and ride out the storm in the bar, which has survived every war, hurricane and tourist invasion that has passed through since 1804. "I think this is going to be a bad one," he said. "We should get a little water, but we'll get by." For the people who stayed, there was little to do but watch and wait after the 6 p.m. curfew. On Canal Street, police posted guards at the doors of the Radisson hotel to make sure guests didn't wander out and get blown away by the storm. Churches across the Gulf coast canceled services, but there was plenty of praying going on anyway. In a Biloxi, Miss., shelter, Glenda Woodard, an Air Force budget analyst in her 40s, sat in a patio chair reading her Good News Bible. She found comfort in Psalm 27: "The Lord protects me from all danger. I will never be afraid." But forecasters were talking in terms that sounded like the story of Noah. They said Georges may stall over the coast and dump up to 25 inches of rain on New Orleans, which has yet to dry out from the soaking Tropical Storm Frances gave it two weeks ago. "It could wreak havoc," said Paul Trotter of the National Weather Service. "A slow-moving . . . storm would give us some high tides, heavy winds and lots of rain. When they co-exist all together, that's where we'll get the devastation." With a storm surge driving millions of gallons of water up the Mississippi River, Georges could push Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas over their banks and into New Orleans. The city sits in a saucer of land averaging 6 feet below sea level, protected only by 130 miles of levees. "This is the best city in America," Mayor Marc Morial said. "But 300 years ago, this might not have been the best place to place a city." New Orleans' pumping system is built to handle a storm like Georges -- but not if it sticks around. "Our drainage system is the best," Morial said. "But no system can move unlimited amounts of water." Georges killed 300 people as it rampaged through the Caribbean. Although it showed mercy to the Florida Keys, sparing lives, it still left plenty of damage in its wake. Total estimates are not yet available, but Gov. Lawton Chiles said Sunday that in Big Pine Key and Marathon at least 320 homes suffered major damage or were destroyed. Most were mobile homes and houseboats. Businesses were damaged as well, including an oyster and seafood processing plant in Marathon that will have to close for an extended period of time, putting 150 people out of work. Emergency management officials reported trees and power lines down, power poles snapped, and cell phones inoperative. Power will be out in the Lower Keys and Key West for at least another four or five days. The Key West Airport was closed because of sand and flooding of the runway. But floodwaters that had made streets impassable since Georges passed Friday had finally receded. On Duval Street, which is normally abuzz with tourists, generators hummed beneath the scratch of sweeping and the roar of power saws as residents repaired their damaged homes and businesses. Storm shutters were removed from hotels and restaurants, though the typical revelry was not expected to return for days. An alcohol ban was in effect until 9 tonight. The Keys remain under a 24-hour curfew, which was relaxed from daylight until 7 p.m. for residents to get supplies. The Florida National Guard had 600 guardsmen on duty to help with security. Many Keys evacuees were unhappy at being blocked from returning home. Authorities said they needed two days to clear the roads of debris.
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EW ORLEANS -- Bourbon Street fell silent Sunday. The bars that never close drew their shades and locked their doors, while 10,000 people crowded into the Louisiana Superdome in anticipation of an event bigger than any Super Bowl.
