Three years and three days after Hurricane Katrina overcame the levees of New Orleans, causing billions in damage and more than 1,800 deaths, Hurricane Gustav barreled into the Big Easy as a fearsome Category 3 storm on Sept. 1. The city implemented its new-and-improved disaster plan, and 1.9 million people fled in anticipation of what Mayor Ray Nagin called "the mother of all storms," in the largest such evacuation in U.S. history.
Thankfully, rebuilt levees withstood the onslaught, and the city was largely spared a repeat of the Katrina disaster. Virtually no disruption to the city's meetings calendar is expected, and area hotels, the convention center, and the Superdome emerged with just minor damage, said the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The evacuation "went exceptionally well and almost flawlessly followed the emergency plan established after Hurricane Katrina," said Kelly Schulz, VP of communications and public relations.
A week after the storm hit, hotels, restaurants, and venues were all operating normally. The storm season is not over yet, though, and Gulf Coast residents are still holding their breath as more storms form in the seasonally warm waters of the Atlantic.
"While Hurricane Gustav is still fresh on the minds of coastal residents, we must now turn our attention to Hurricane Ike as it poses a threat to the Texas coast," said Texas governor Rick Perry. The storm was aiming for Galveston, TX, at press time, but forecasters had warned that the unpredictable hurricane could hit anywhere from Louisiana to Mexico.
Up to 1,350 buses were readied to support evacuations in Texas, and up to 7,500 guardsmen were on standby for rapid deployment to maintain order. Up to 1 million residents were in harm's way, according to forecasters at the National Hurricane Center, who predicted landfall on Sept. 13.
Hurricane Ike ravaged the Carribean, hitting the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos as a Category 4 storm before ravaging Cuba with heavy winds and flooding. Haiti reported 71 deaths from Ike, following floods triggered by Tropical Storm Hanna that killed 500 a week prior. Major convention and meeting destinations such as Puerto Rico have been spared from major hurricanes so far this season.
In the Bahamas, Ike caused structural damage on the southernmost island of Inagua but spared major tourist destinations, such as Grand Bahama Island and New Providence Island (Nassau).
Premier Michael Misick of the Turks and Caicos said in a statement that Ike made an almost-direct hit on the Grand Turk island, damaging 80 percent of homes, a week after Hurricane Hanna battered the islands. There were no reports of deaths or injuries. The 111-room Sands at Grace Bay has already reopened and was not significantly damaged. The Cruise Center on Grand Turk was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ike, but the cruise-ship pier was up and running.
For now, residents of the Gulf Coast are watching and waiting as the rest of hurricane season progresses through the end of November.
In 2007, New Orleans hosted 7.1 million visitors who spent $4.8 billion, a 92-percent increase over the number of visitors in 2006 and not far from the pre-Katrina norm of 8.5 million visitors, according to the CVB. This fall, New Orleans will host prominent citywide conventions such as the 25,000-person American Heart Association Scientific Sessions and the 12,000-person Starbucks Corp. Leadership Conference. In January, the city will host the annual conference of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA).
Originally published Sept. 22, 2008