Gustav Watch: From the AC360 Blog

Because we're not going to pretend this is anything other than my shameless excuse to post Anderson's picture...

Anderson's View: The Calm (and Crabcakes) Before the Storm
By Anderson Cooper

I’m sitting at a bar.

I know, I know, there’s a massive storm coming. Don’t worry, I’m not drinking. I hadn’t eaten all day and this is the only place I could find open in the French Quarter.

“We never close,” the bartender yelled out as he waved me inside. “I knew you would be here,” the chef said, rushing into the kitchen, “I’m going to make you up some crabcakes.”

How could I say no? It’s a small place called the Oceana Grill, and it’s packed with cops and reporters. That’s a good sign, it means most of the residents and tourists have left. The Quarter is empty, boarded up, calm. I’ve spent today walking and driving around, checking up on evacuations and preparations.

So far the differences between the response to this storm and Katrina are obvious. Lessons seem to have been learned. The governor appears on top of the evacuations, city officials seem to be working together.

We haven’t gotten a final count on how many of the estimated 30,000 people who needed help to leave have actually gotten out. But there have been buses evacuating people since early yesterday. As for the levees, we simply don’t know. The work on them is not completed, and there are serious concerns about how strong they really are. we will be watching them closely.

We will be broadcasting a two hour special tonight. We have a large presence here, and are ready to cover whatever happens. We have staked out multiple locations to be at during the storm, and we hope to stay on the air as long as possible even during the worst of it.

“How long are you staying open for?” I ask the bartender as I pay my check…
“til,” he says.
“til what?”
“til we get tired.”