As Gustav continues to move onshore into Louisiana this afternoon, 10 student reporters and editors at Louisiana State University's student newspaper, The Daily Reveille, are hunkered down in their offices, waiting the storm out as they continuously update their Web site, despite the fact that campus itself is officially closed until Wednesday, according to a note posted on Facebook by Nicholas Persac, an editor for the newspaper. The team plans to remain at the paper's office overnight through at least Tuesday if not Wednesday.
Live video on the front of the site taken from the Reveille's building shows wind whipping the campus. Photos show military helicopters on campus as well as the temporary shelter set up in one of the campus buildings.
The biggest news over the weekend and into today has by far been this hurricane, which at one point was threatening to wreck Katrina-like havoc on New Orleans. The once-Category 4 hurricane was downgraded to a Category 2 before it made landfall this morning along the Louisiana coast.
The hurricane has spared New Orleans, although water is flowing over a levee there. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for New Orleans residents days in advance to avoid another Katrina situation, but many stayed behind. The Republican Convention has even been downsized today, with many foregoing attendance, including President Bush. One lesson was apparently learned from Katrina as the state prompted mass pet evacuations ahead of the storm.
- Kat