[A-List] Eco-tastrophe - New Orleans meets Ivan

["Stan Goff" <sherrynstan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[For many years there have been warnings about the inevitability of a
storm pushing Lake Pontchartrain into and over the city.  It is now a
very real possibility. -SG]

Deadly Hurricane Ivan Gives Big Easy the Jitters
Tue Sep 14, 2004 05:56 PM ET

By Russell McCulley
NEW ORLEANS, La. (Reuters) - The Big Easy became The Big Queasy on
Tuesday as the usually laid-back party town worried about deadly
Hurricane Ivan rumbling north through the Gulf of Mexico toward the U.S.
coast.
Shopkeepers and bar owners in New Orleans' famed French Quarter boarded
up windows while residents loaded luggage into cars and left town along
highways jammed with evacuees before Ivan, blamed for at least 68 deaths
in the Caribbean, closed in.
In the Quarter's historic heart, Jackson Square, a handful of tarot card
readers, palmists and artists were out, but the usual late summer swarm
of tourists was limited to a few hardy souls.
On Tuesday afternoon, the center of the powerful storm with 140 mph
winds was 450 miles away in the Gulf of Mexico and forecast to land east
of New Orleans late on Wednesday or early on Thursday.
But Ivan's expansive hurricane-force winds, extending out 100 miles from
its eye, meant the storm could strike hard without scoring a direct hit
on the city, which has a metropolitan population of 1.5 million people.
"I'm concerned," said art dealer Betty Elliott as she and her husband
nailed plywood sheets in front of their gallery windows.
"At the very best, we're going to get some tropical storm force winds,
so that's enough to make us want to prepare," she said. "Better safe
than sorry."
Adding to worries was the fact that most of New Orleans is several feet
below sea level, protected from the Mississippi River and Lake
Pontchartrain only by levees, canals and a system of pumps that drain
off flood waters.
CITIZENS URGED TO LEAVE
The last time it took a direct hurricane hit was 1965, when Betsy struck
with 125 mph winds and swamped the city. The storm was blamed for at
least 75 deaths.
"The city basically sits like a bowl," Mayor Ray Nagin told CNN. "If we
get a storm like Ivan to hit us directly or come really close to us we
could have a situation where we have 12 to 18 feet of water throughout
the city."
At a press conference, Nagin sternly warned city residents to get out,
or at least get up to higher elevations.
"I'm once again urging the citizens of New Orleans that can leave to
please do so," he said. "The (forecast map's) cone of certainty now
totally covers the New Orleans metropolitan area."
The city's international airport was due to close on Tuesday night. To
help the evacuation, Louisiana state police opened east-bound lanes of
Interstate Highway 10 to west-bound traffic, but the road was still
jammed with thousands of slow-moving cars.
Across the city, gas stations ran out of gasoline and stores ran out of
batteries, water and food as residents stocked up on hurricane supplies.

Amidst the flurry of hurried departures, long-time French Quarter
resident Betty DeCell vowed to stay, armed with the only provisions she
would need.
"I have lots of water," she said, "And some gin."
(Additional reporting by Michael Depp)

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=62357
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