Gustav's Landfall
The initial response suggests government has learned from Katrina.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

HURRICANE GUSTAV wasn't as big a test as it could have been. The first major storm to roar across the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 had everyone scrambling. No one was taking any chances this go-round. And government authorities and the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast appear to have passed.

Local, state and federal officials moved quickly as Gustav churned its way through the Gulf of Mexico. States of emergency were declared by President Bush that opened the spigot of federal money and equipment. The National Guard was mobilized early to safeguard the streets. Buses were called in to take those without transportation out of the storm's path. And as Gustav got closer, the warnings to the public got more blunt. "You need to be scared," said New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin. "You need to get your butts out of New Orleans." By the time Gustav's winds whipped the Louisiana coast, the Crescent City was a virtual ghost town.

According to the Red Cross, there were 45,000 people in shelters in 10 states Sunday night compared with 30,000 people in five states when Katrina hit. Luckily, Gustav was not nearly as bad as everyone had feared. It made landfall as a Category 2 storm yesterday morning 72 miles southwest of New Orleans and slowed to a Category 1 menace by the afternoon. Trees were downed. Power went out in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. And some levees were overtopped. But there were none of the catastrophic levee failures that doomed New Orleans three years ago.

For their part, the Republicans gathered in St. Paul, Minn., for their nominating convention were right to heed Sen. John McCain's call to curtail partisan activities and turn their attention to those hunkered down on the Gulf Coast. It's uncertain if or when the convention schedule will be revived. But it is to be hoped that Mr. McCain will have his chance to make his case to the country before the week is over.

We hope that dodging this bullet won't make either Gulf Coast residents or government authorities complacent about future storms. Vigilance is still required. Also, we're just through phase one of Gustav. Phase two will be searching for those who stayed behind and might need help and looking for structural failures that could lead to more danger. The need for caution cannot be overstated. Everyone thought New Orleans was relatively fine after Katrina's winds stopped howling. Things seem relatively okay now that Gustav has moved inland. We'll know better today.