Area Man With Ties to Katrina Fears for Levees

By EDWARD B. COLBY

gustav

As another monster hurricane bore down on New Orleans, Lou Cimini had one major concern: whether the city’s levees will hold this time.

“Last time, I think I was surprised how unprepared they were,” said Cimini, a Norwell resident who in 2005 oversaw the effort to house roughly 235 Hurricane Katrina evacuees at Otis Air National Guard Base in Bourne. “I was surprised how quickly things got flooded and the levees broke. I’m very curious to see how the repairs have come around.”

Nearly three years to the day after Katrina hit New Orleans and engulfed the city, Gustav is expected to make landfall at midday today as at least a Category 3 storm. Gustav had top sustained winds of 115 mph Sunday evening, when about 90 percent of coastal Louisiana had evacuated.

That was quite a contrast to Katrina. The New Orleans residents who evacuated to Otis for two months were “the forgotten people,” those who could only take refuge at the Superdome during that storm, if they could even get there, Cimini said.

“It appears to me that they’re much better prepared now,” said Cimini.

Farther east on the Gulf Coast, Allison Lungren and her children, Christopher, 17, and Katrina, 15, were ready to ride out the storm in their house in Long Beach, Miss.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the children spent about two months in Rockland with Lungren’s father and stepmother, Tom and Cora Smith. They were warmly received by the town and in Rockland’s schools – a crucial period that Lungren said “really made life down here easier” as she looked after the house and helped neighbors following the storm.

Lungren said in a telephone interview on Sunday that the family had picked up debris and wood, put away lawn furniture, and made sure “there’s nothing that the wind can take a hold of and turn into a projectile.”

Lungren said the family decided to stay put this time in part to avoid the numerous thefts that followed Katrina, and so Christopher, a Boy Scout, could help police deliver ice and keep roads clear after Gustav passes.

Edward B. Colby may be reached at ecolby@ledger.com.

Originally published by By EDWARD B. COLBY, The Patriot Ledger.

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