Post-Gustav New Orleans struggles to get back on track

New Orleans was struggling to prepare for Sunday’s Saints game in the Superdome, as hospitality services — and power — trickled back late in the week in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.

As of Thursday afternoon, 66% of Orleans Parish was still without power and many of downtown’s major hotels — including the Sheraton and Hilton Riverside, still faced staffing shortages and were not planning to reopen until Monday.

Visitors heading to New Orleans were encouraged to check in with their individual hotels before traveling. Meanwhile, the French Quarter’s Royal Sonesta and Ritz-Carlton had reopened, with limited food services. The W New Orleans, also in the French Quarter, was to reopen Friday.

The city’s Convention & Visitors Bureau was compiling a list of hotel and restaurant reopenings. When finished, it will be posted at neworleanscvb.com.

Wind damage to the French Quarter and other areas of the city was mostly light, but the power outages affected water and sewerage in many parts of the city, slowing reentry for many workers.

Gustav, a Category 2 storm that struck Monday, knocked out all 14 of the transmission lines between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Outages could linger for days, authorities said.

Meanwhile, Louis Armstrong International Airport reopened and by Thursday was nearly back at full schedule.
– Chris Erskine, Los Angeles Times deputy Travel editor

[Photo: Residents line up for a free meal from the Salvation Army in front of the Superdome on Thursday; Mario Tama / Getty Images]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4, 2008 at 5:40 pm by Chris Erskine and is filed under New Orleans & Louisiana, News, Tips & Advice, Southern States. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.