New Orleans under flood threat as Gustav tears into US coast


NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana - Ferocious rain and wind gusts unleashed by Hurricane Gustav pushed water cascading over protective works in New Orleans on Monday three years after Katrina swamped the fabled jazz city.

Wave surges washed over a levee wall lining a portion of the city's Ninth Ward - ground zero of the disaster in 2005 - and water had reached as high as road signs around the Industrial Canal in the ward's north.

"We are nowhere near out of danger yet," New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said, with an estimated 10,000 residents still in the city after a mandatory evacuation forced nearly two million people to flee coastal areas over the weekend.

About half of the monster storm had passed over New Orleans after Gustav slammed ashore on Monday morning as a Category Two hurricane packing winds of 175 kilometres per hour.

"We're still seeing storm surge. There's lots of rain, tornado threats, and we won't know the full effect of the storm surge on the west bank until about 2:00 or 3:00 pm (1900 or 2000 GMT)," Nagin said on CNN.

Nagin, who had vowed zero tolerance for the kind of anarchy that swept New Orleans after Katrina, reported that one looter had been arrested.

"You know, thank God we've gotten most of our citizens out, and the ones that have stayed are staying indoors."

Louisiana officials said there were about 750 National Guard troops in New Orleans in case a new rescue operation was needed, with memories still fresh of the destruction wrought by Katrina and the government's botched response.

President George W. Bush, visiting Austin, Texas to oversee relief preparations, said: "The coordination on this storm is a lot better than during Katrina."

Bush, who had scrapped his plans to attend the Republican national convention in St Paul, Minnesota, said "I feel good about this event."

But he also warned: "The storm has yet to pass, it's a serious event."

Bush's administration suffered a grievous political blow after its haphazard response to the Katrina disaster in late August 2005, which killed some 1,800 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless for months.

Katrina hit New Orleans as a stronger hurricane than Gustav and while initial storm damage was limited, its most devastating affects came in the following days when the city's levees collapsed under the weight of flood waters.

Gustav uprooted trees, blew out windows and ripped gutters and other parts off homes, turning objects into missiles.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said there were unconfirmed reports that three critically ill patients had died while being transported to safer ground.

At a press conference in his command centre in Baton Rouge, Jindal said Gustav was heading across Louisiana at a speed of 25 kilometres per hour but storm surges were still threatening New Orleans and coastal communities.

And tornadoes whipped up by Gustav's lashing winds posed an ongoing danger, the governor warned.

Federal Emergency Management Agency director David Paulison said anyone who had stayed in the city had "no excuses."

"If people stayed in New Orleans, it was their choice," Paulison said.

Local FEMA coordinator Jim Hufft, observing the inundation in the Ninth Ward, insisted: "We are ready to roll. There are a lot of lessons we learned from Katrina."

If the bulk of the levees hold and Gustav does not strike a more damaging blow to New Orleans, residents could start returning to the area as early as late Tuesday, Hufft predicted.

"My worry now is the wind," he told AFP. "It has the water piled up against the levee wall, for sure."

New Orleans' levee system is still being rebuilt after Katrina at a cost of 15 billion dollars.

Gustav will add to the costs of rebuilding a region still reeling from that devastation three years ago. California-based consultancy Eqecat Inc. estimated that insured losses would range from six to 10 billion dollars.

About five percent of oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico would be lost for a year, it added, compounding tight supply problems at a time of sky-high fuel prices.

Stalked by memories of the Katrina tragedy, Republican White House hopeful John McCain shelved most of the opening day of the convention.

McCain on Monday stopped by a disaster relief centre in Waterville, Ohio where he met volunteers packing cleaning supplies, toiletries and toys for storm victims.

"This epitomises the millions of American people who are serving on behalf of causes greater than their self-interest. They're putting their country first," he told reporters.

McCain's Democratic rival Barack Obama cut short campaigning to return to Chicago later Monday, and invited his campaign's mammoth base of donors to give money and time towards relief efforts.