By Michael Freeman, Managing Editor
Although Hurricane Gustav made landfall about 700 miles from Abilene on Monday, the effects of the storm hit close to home for some ACU students.
“Baton Rouge probably has more damage than they’ve really seen from a storm in a couple of decades,” said Shannon Williamson, graduate student in psychology from New Orleans.
Hurricane Gustav knocked out power for nearly 1.4 million households, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Tuesday.
Michelle Guillory, graduate student from Port Allen, La., is one of those without power. She said she is working on her ACU degree online from home. “I lost power around 11 a.m. [Monday morning],” Guillory said. “We could have a couple of days without power.”
The process of restoring power will take some time. Williamson’s father works as a manager for a Louisiana electrical power company. “He had to work all weekend in preparation for the storm,” Williamson said.
“And he’ll be working 12- hour, maybe 15-hour days for the next few days.” Almost two million people evacuated Louisiana as the hurricane approached, according to CNN.com. But many students’ families decided to stay in their homes.
However, they will be without groceries, gasoline and water in addition to being without power. “Everybody is closed down,” Guillory said. “Gasoline stations are closed. In fact, a lot of places are completely out of gas. If you didn’t get your gasoline yesterday [Sunday], then you’re out of luck.”
As Louisiana officials and residents begin to return to normalcy, Gustav treks northwest. Experts from the National Hurricane Center predicted six to twelve inches of rain could fall over Louisiana, northeastern Texas, western Mississippi, Arkansas, southern Missouri and southeast Oklahoma by Thursday. However, the winds have died down since the storm hit Louisiana. “The wind was just insane. We have trees down everywhere,” Guillory said.
“I was here for Katrina and Rita, but for whatever reason there is a lot more wind this time around. It’s just very strong.”
Many students who are from Louisiana or have family living in the state said they were concerned,especially considering what happened when Hurricane Katrina battered the state in 2005.
“I mean, I was really worried,” said Bonni Wattigney, sophomore graphic design major from Keller. “Because this hurricane, they were predicting that it would hit the West Bank where my family is from.” The hurricane came ashore near Cocodrie, La., about 80 miles from West Bank.
West Bank is a metropolitan area in New Orleans, which is on the west side of the Mississippi River. “It can be a really lifethreatening thing, especially while the levees aren’t prepared,” Wattigney said. “If they break and it floods, there is not a lot you can do to escape from rushing water.”
The levees in New Orleans held strong against Gustav, but some water did spill over parts of New Orleans’ Industrial Canal floodwall Monday, causing minor flooding, according to the Associated Press.
Louisiana’s government and people are receiving accolades for their preparation of the hurricane. “Everyone had a plan,” Williamson said.
“People were really scared, and because of that they really had to plan. I think that was a good thing. It’s better to be overprepared.”
