Notes from Gustav

Let's begin with a glossary.  "Activation" refers to the essential personnel that stay in town during a storm.  This includes police, fire, EMS, and essential hospital personnel, as well as certain governmental administrative types.  Their purpose is to protect property and enforce evacuations and curfews, as well as assessing ongoing storm damage when safe to do so.
"Recovery" refers to the activation teams' counterparts who stage out of town and are prepared to return after the worst is over (usually after 48-120 hours) to take over for the activation teams and give them a needed break.
"Tier 1" refers to essential services (water/sewer, electricity, etc).  These teams are allowed to return as soon as possible after the storm, and are generally given 24 hours (or more) in which to assess and begin to repair damage.   Tier 1 represents the most essential needs of the city, without which no other functions are possible.
"Tier 2" are business owners and operatives who are permitted to return as soon as the area is safe and essential services are available.  Tier 2 return is expedited in order to ensure food and fuel availability when the general population returns.
"Tier 3" (also known as general population) is everyone else.

The activation portion of the hurricane Gustav response is officially over.  As of 7am today, the last of the recovery teams has come on-duty.  First responders have resumed normal operations, hospitals are once again admitting people who aren't actively dying, basic services are being restored (tier one), business owners (tier 2) and residents (tier 3) are assessing and cleaning up damage.  The National Guard has packed up and is moving out to more-damaged areas of the state.  Note that, while the Guardsmen did carry live ammunition during this deployment, they did not load their weapons (exception noted below).

The activation went well.  Food and water was available in sufficient quantities for the first responders.  I was pleasantly surprised by the availability of air conditioning, flush toilets, and showers.  We were even provided with cots, and thus did not have to sleep on the floor.  A certain amount of fuss was raised by members of the Police Department due to fears regarding food, water, sewerage, and medication.  These fears proved unfounded.

Everywhere you go, minor storm damage is apparent.  Downed tree branches are everywhere, some power lines are down, occasionally one even notes an entire fallen tree.  Structure damage is rare, and most of the apparent damage is appears left over from Katrina.

Some devastation did occur, but that is the exception rather than the rule.  Home destruction is generally due to falling trees (which tend to take out single buildings) as opposed to widespread flooding (which destroys entire neighborhoods).  Speaking of flooding, the reports of levee failure in the 9th ward were exaggerated.  I personally toured that area and, aside from a few puddles of rain, there was no standing water.

Downtown New Orleans (including the French Quarter) appears to be in good shape.  Johnny White's (the French Quarter bar made famous by the media during Katrina) remained open and crowded the day after the storm.  Several other neighborhood bars remained open and served as local centers for exchanging information, trading supplies, etc.

I toured Uptown briefly--no major damage to report.

I have not been to New Orleans East or the Lakefront region.  Minor flooding was reported from the East (which happens during most rainstorms, and is nothing to be concerned about).  No reports have come from Lakefront, but remember that this region is practically unpopulated after being wiped out during Katrina.

St Bernard Parish (below the lower ninth ward--almost completely wiped out during Katrina) is well-guarded.  During my tour of the ninth ward I approached a barricade on the parish line only to be stopped by a very serious sheriff's deputy who kept his hand on his sidearm during our entire conversation.  Despite my official identification I was unequivocally refused entry to the parish.  It was only as I was leaving that I noticed the National Guardsman in an elevated, covered position and a clip in his rifle.  I do not believe he was the only soldier in that vicinity.

Metairie and East Bank Jefferson Parish appear to be in good shape.  No serious damage noted. I did not tour the West Bank or any areas with reported tornado activity.

As I write this, I hear the sound of chainsaws as a gardening service removes a fallen tree from my neighbor's yard.  The fact that such services are available is a good sign for the status of the city.

Now I'm off to clean up my yard and take my plants back outside.  I won't be taking down the storm shutters though until I find out what Ike and Josephine are doing.